So Close and Still So Far
by QueenOfTheOwls
Summary: Hermione/Snape, Hermione/oc. Snape wants Hermione to be his but when the Prince of the wizarding world comes to Hogwarts for a brief meeting with Dumbledor he is taken with Hermione. Can Severus make her his before he loses her to the royal family? AU
1. Almost but not quite

Almost but not quite

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my original characters of course. Also for those of you who have read my work before you know that I have removed all of my stories from the past. This is because my writing style has changed and therefore the other stories have become obsolete. I apologize if you liked them but it is time that they are retired. Now on with the story.

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Hermione sat at her workstation that Professor Snape had given to her when he agreed to take her on as an apprentice. Somehow she always thought that it was a miracle in itself that he gave her the position in the first place. She had always known that he never liked her simply because she was friends with Potter and Weasley. But as the days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, she was not so sure anymore.

She poured her last ladleful of pepper-up potion into the vile she held and pressed the stopper on top of it. With a flick of her wand she vanished the mess away leaving nothing but a clean station and a tray of perfectly brewed pepper-up potion that would be given to Poppy.

"I swear Hermione you seem to get faster and faster everyday and yet you have failed to make a single mistake. Not bad for a Gryffindor of course." Professor Snape said as he took the tray from her.

That fateful day when she walked into his office and pleaded for him to give her an apprenticeship was one he'd never forget. She looked so fragile and was definitely expecting him to say no. But he was a man who appreciated the concept of knowledge and would take on anyone who was willing to learn. So when he said they would start immediately he thought he saw her heart drop into her shoes as a big wide grin appeared on her faced but was quickly ushered away when he tried to poke fun at her big teeth that were no longer big.

He never really took in her appearance as a young lady before but now that he finally noticed he could barely keep composure over his emotions. Her hair was no longer bushy and fuzzy as it had been in her younger days, it now cascaded down her back in sleek honey curls that would make any man tremble, including him, if she swished them. Her eyes still held a trace of innocence but mostly the insights of a young woman. And yet those mocha orbs still sparkled when she was happy. Her teeth had not only been fixed but shown a glowing white that brought out her peach cheeks when she smiled. God she was beautiful, absolutely beautiful. And she wanted to spend her spare time with him no doubt. Of course it was for her career in becoming a potions mistress but who was he to argue? He could enjoy this very well.

He suddenly heard a whistle that slammed him back into reality. She was standing in front of him waving her hand in front of his eyes urging him to come back to reality. He realized he was still holding the increasingly heavy tray and quickly put them down on his desk before he could drop all her hard work to the floor.

"Are you alright Professor? You've be daydreaming again. As I recall you would wack a student upside the head and take away house points if you caught them doing that." She said while crossing her arms.

"Indeed. But I'm fine now Hermione so don't worry yourself."

"Believe me I wasn't worried." She said accompanied by a guttural roar that ran from her stomach. She quickly covered her stomach and turned a few shades of red as Snape laughed at her reaction.

"Oh shut up." She said to him as she walked out of his private office and into the potions classroom with him tagging along.

"I'm sorry Hermione it's just the fact that no matter how many times your stomach growls the reaction of embarrassment never gets old." Smiling a true smile while saying so.

"Tell you what, since it is so late how about we eat dinner in my chambers this evening?" He offered before he could stop it from coming out of his mouth. He had never invited her into his chambers before and really wished he didn't do it now.

"I'd love to, that would be perfect." She said as she walked with him to his private rooms. Surprisingly enough the whole living quarters was not decorated in green and silver as she expected. The furniture was a shade of mulberry at it sat around a roaring fire that accented a black coffee table in front of it. His bed was a few inches away from it sitting area. The sheets were silk and green topped with a black comforter and silver curtains around the four posters. Aligning every wall was a bookcase filled with hundreds of books ranging from muggle classics to potions to theory of the universe.

"Do you like it?" He asked her in the gentlest tone he could muster as she gaped at his book collection.

"Are you kidding? It's remarkable." She said as she ran her fingers down the dusty spines of the covers.

He found himself staring at her fingers and wishing that she would touch him with those hands but quickly shoving that thought out of his head with logical reasoning.

"_Severus come on she is your student not to mention 20 years your junior. It doesn't matter how beautiful she is or how much you want her she is still untouchable. Besides it is not like she would want you back anyway."_

With a quick realization that he had not summoned any food he quickly snapped his finger and a meager house elf came to stand in front of him.

"Peeble would you bring my guest and I some food left over from tonight's dinner please?"

"Of course sir." She bowed and made her leave momentarily.

He walked over to his liquor cabinet and pulled out a bottle of wine. Now was as good a time as any to drink it, besides it not like they were on a date or anything.

"I never pictured you as a wine man." Hermione commented as he pulled out two glasses.

"Well I do enjoy the occasional wine with dinner but mostly I'm a firewiskey kind of person." He responded as he poured two glasses of the blood red liquid.

Hermione was surprised that he was actually going to let her drink some of his wine. After all she was his student but one glass couldn't hurt since it was with dinner.

Peeble came back and had a full tray of food. Everything from soup, bread, fruit and pasta, and a raspberry cheesecake for desert.

"Thank you Peeble." Severus said as he handed Hermione the wineglass.

They came over to his sofa where the food was at the coffee table and presumed to eat.

Once finished they found themselves talking as they worked on polishing off the wine.

"You know Hermione, I find you very attractive." He said without realizing due to his slightly drunken state.

Hermione was very surprised by him comment, unlike him she had not drank the wine so hastily therefore was not really drunk and was able to process every word.

"I never realized how pretty you were until you came to my office that one day when you wanted an apprenticeship. God I would have taken you right there if I could."

Hermione's face flushed very red. She thought it would be best if she left or else could end up doing something she was not ready for. Sure Severus Snape was attractive or at least she thought so but she was not ready to sleep with him.

"I think I need to leave." She said as she put down her glass and almost too quickly got off the couch only to be met with Severus' lips on hers. The kiss was very hot and passionate and in a sense Hermione didn't want it to stop but she tasted the alcohol on his breath that mingled with her own.

Finding her inner strength she pushed him away and backed herself away slowly.

She didn't know what he was capable of doing while drunk so as quick as she could she left his rooms and retired to her head girl quarters without second thought.

Ah yes a short chapter I know but there is more to come. Also 1 send me reviews please. 2 don't send me ones that contain comments about my spelling or punctuation because I know it is not very good and those kind of comments just aren't tasteful. And 3 I know Severus is out of character but to be honest I have not ever read a story in which he is. Plus this side of him is not permanent it will change more like himself later on. See you later


	2. Akwardness and Arivels

Awkwardness and Arrivals

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my original characters as always

To SweetSourBlood: Thank you for your review. I had read stories when Snape was presumably a beast well why not have a story where Hermione can presumably be a princess; after all she can be quite feminine and feisty.

To Heidi191976: Thank you. I do not intend to stop writing and neglect this story like I had my past ones. I think what I'm going to need to do is I'm going to write one story at a time therefore work doesn't pile up on me.

To nascarchick: Thanks for the review. I will update as often as possible until I start collage then we will see where to go from there.

To NessaCullen23: Thank you for your review. I can only say that I hope this story will get better from its original start.

And to all who added me or my story: Thank you for reading my story. Just by this first chapter I was surprised on how many of you really liked it since I thought the first chapter was kind of weak. But from here on out things will start to intensify. Enjoy

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Severus woke up with a pounding ache in his temples. He didn't really remember how he had gotten into bed fully clothed last night or what really happened to Hermione.

He recalled though he had this funny dream that he had been talking to her and then blurted out that he wanted her and kissed her before she could…

"Oh shit, I have the feeling that this really did happen. Not only did I reveal my feelings for her in a perverse way but I forced a kiss on her and now she won't want anything to do with me. Good job Severus, somehow you always manage to screw something up."

Severus carefully got out of bed so he didn't cause a catastrophe like the last time when he was drunk, which involved him being in the hospital wing for three days with a broken 

nose that swelled up like a grapefruit. And a meddlesome Professor Trelawney never leaving his bedside for a minute. God he did not want to relive any of that all over again.

He carefully moved to his cabinet and retrieved a strong pain relieving potion that would also stabilize his movements, just for times like this.

He downed the potion in one gulp and instantly felt as though he could take on the world. But what he really needed to do was talk to Hermione and apologize for being such an asshole. He showered and changed and prepared a little note for his raven to give to Hermione this morning in the great hall along with all the other mail the students received.

With a deep breath he left his rooms and hoped that Hermione would at least want to speak to him.

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Hermione awoke with a little headache and to see Ginny Weasley sitting on the foot of her bed in her head girl dormitory.

"Ahh Ginny how did you get in here?" Hermione asked knowing that she had locked and warded her rooms like she did every night.

"Oh I have my ways." She responded while tugging the covers off of her best friend.

"Now tell me why you missed breakfast and are about to be late for classes on this lovely day?"

"You mean I missed breakfast and classes are about to start? Oh shit." Hermione said as she jumped out of bed and proceeded to get dressed.

"Why didn't anyone come get me up before?" she loudly proclaimed to her chipper friend.

"Well we all tried to get you up. Harry, Ron, me, Lavender, and Pervati but you were out like a candle. Honestly Hermione you sleep like the dead when you are drunk."

She turned to Ginny as she was pulling on her robe.

"How did you know I was drunk?" She asked Ginny with a deadly glare to follow.

"Oh I saw you come in last night. You could barely keep your balance not to mention you looked a little distraught. That's why I asked you this morning why you wanted to stay in bed."

Hermione sighed heavily. Ginny had always had this peculiar way of knowing when something was up. So either it was very good insight or else she was very nosy.

"Can you keep a secret Ginny? And I mean don't tell it to anyone. Not Harry, and especially not Ron or Lavender." She shot with a warning.

"Hermione, haven't I always kept your secrets?"

"Well yeah that's true I just wanted to make sure before I told you."

"So fire away Hermione, we haven't all day."

"Okay, okay. Last night I was working so much with Professor Snape that I forgot to go and have dinner. So we went back to his chambers and had dinner but along with dinner we also had a bottle of the best damned wine I ever tasted." She paused to see Ginny with a raised eyebrow but still beckoning her to go on.

"Anyhow he had more of it then I did and started to say that he found me very attractive and has ever since I became his apprentice, and then he started to get graphic saying that he would have taken me there over his desk if her could." She paused again to see a disturbed look on Ginny's face.

"So when he said this I started to feel like that I needed to leave because things were getting too awkward so I turn to leave but he pulls me in his arms and kisses me. But the bad thing about it is that I didn't mind it and I would as far to say that I had enjoyed it but he only did these things because he was drunk and I know this. I almost feel heartbroken like I was used." Hermione finished to see Ginny looking like he was about to feint.

"Why that nasty old pervert! We need to go to Dumbledore immediately Hermione. He could have raped you!" She said when Hermione grabbed her wrist and squeezed it gently.

"Ginny you promised me remember. Besides he didn't do anything bad to me it is just very awkward since I really don't know how I feel about him."

"Do you love him Hermione?" She asked sincerely

"Oh don't be silly Ginny of course I don't love him. Hell I don't even know the man that well. I mean we've made conversation and have spent a lot of time together over the summer and now still but I really don't believe I love him or that he loves me."

"Okay Hermione but I hate to tell you that our first class is double potions and we are already late for it." She said as she was pulling Hermione out the door.

"Oh god this day is going to suck."

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Not far from Hogwarts a gold and ivory chariot flew in the sky by silver Pegasus'. And inside the three beings held an important conversation.

"Now Nicholas, go over the plan with me once more so I'm sure you understand it." A pale woman with dark eyes spoke to the handsome figure across from her.

"Well mother. You and father will go to that old goat Dumbledore and convince him that our part of the kingdom is being attacked by the Dark Lord. Therefore in order for me to be king one day I must be protected so since Hogwarts is the safest place to be right now you will convince him to take me in. In the meantime I will be scouring all the girls until I find me a suitable wife. I will convince her that I love her and we will marry quickly. When it seems fit for us to leave we will come back to the castle and I will keep her until she bears me a son. Then once she does we will wait a few years until the child no longer needs his mother then we will sacrifice her to the Dark Lord."

"And if she bears you a daughter?" An older man sitting across from him spoke his turn.

"Then we will sacrifice her and continue to try until a son is born." He responded while fingering the velvet box in his pocket containing the magical engagement ring that he would give to his bride.

"You sound like you are prepared enough. Just remember one important thing. Virginity, she must be a virgin for this to work. This seems cruel but not only will Voldemort get the blood of a virgin princess like he needs but he will leave our family alone so we can raise our future grandson in peace." The older man spoke to his son.

"Don't worry father I will weed out the innocents from the sluts and find the perfect virgin flower we need." Nickolas said right before expelling a maniacal laughter.

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The whole time during potions, Hermione could feel Severus's eyes upon her but being the way he was he could carefully camouflage it. She knew he wanted to talk to her but she was not sure if she could talk to him. Not only being around him was awkward now but she knew what he was going to say in the first place. He was going to tell her to forget what he said and the kiss meant nothing. And for some reason this made her heart tremble.

"Oh I almost forgot. I have your pathetic essays to give back to you." Severus said as he started to hand back the papers one by one. When he got to Hermione he handed her paper to her civilly, forcing her to look at him and thank him. With the others he simply acted as though he would hand it to the student but at the last second drop it on the floor for them to pick up. And when they did he walked away with a smirk glowing on his ivory face.

Hermione glanced at her essay and saw the usual 'outstanding' mark on her essay along with a red spiky message underneath. "_We need to talk after class. So don't think about running off." _ Her breath caught in her throat as she read this. She knew he was not in a good mood today and she could feel that she would get the brunt of it.

Soon enough class ended and she beckoned Ron and Harry not to wait for her. Once the last student filed out she immediately began to speak.

"Professor I'm sorry about the other night. It was high inappropriate of me to give in to your drunken advances. And I know that you did not mean what you said to me and that it was the wine that influenced you to behave in such a manner, so with that I forgive you." She finished thinking he was going to blow up at her when really he was speechless.

He had not planned on saying that at all rather telling her the truth but she chose to interject what she thought he would say of the whole situation. So who was he to argue? She had just made it easier on him anyway.

"Very well Miss. Granger. I'm glad you forgive me. And since you took the words right out of my mouth, I find that I have nothing else to say to you and we will start working together again this weekend. You are dismissed." He said with a flick of his wrist.

Hermione left the classroom feeling an immense relief off of her shoulders. Not only did he seem to agree with what she said but they would start back up again on working together this weekend. 'Things were definitely looking up'.

Severus dismissed her with a heavy heart. He really wanted to tell her the truth but she most likely would have either laughed at him or ran away like the last time. He dropped his quill and put his head in his hands. 'God why was love so complicated?' he thought as he left the classroom to go join the others in the great hall.

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When Hermione arrived into the great hall she noticed three more places up at the head table and three people she did not recognize. One was a taller man with salt and pepper hair and small beard and he took his place next to Dumbledore. Next to this man was a woman with dark brown hair that was pulled back into a tight bun and she wore an emotionless expression upon her porcelain face. And right next to her, where Snape should have been sitting was a very handsome man with shoulder length black hair and ice blue eyes almost that of a wild werewolves. Evidently Severus was surprised about tonight's guests as well as she saw him bow his head to each of them and take his place next to the hansom gentleman.

"Bloody hell. Who is that?" Ron asked Lavender as she continued to stare up at him.

"He is the prince of the wizarding world. Prince Nickolas and those two over there are the King and Queen. Oh Parvati isn't he hansom?" she asked her googly eyed friend.

"Indeed, I wonder if he is here to find a wife?" She asked. Harry looked up at this statement in almost an appalled manner.

"A wife? Why would he want a wife from Hogwarts?" He asked Hermione who was flashing casual glances at the hansom stranger instead of throwing herself at him like Lavender and Parvati were.

"It isn't unheard of you know. Ever since Hogwarts was built many members of the royal family have come here seeking a husband or wife." She finished shooting him just one more glance only to find himself looking right back at her. She blushed as she turned away as Lavender and Parvati tried to suppress a squeal that he was looking over at their table, and what they thought was at their direction.

Suddenly Dumbledore stood from the table and called everyone's attention. Once he received it, he began to speak.

"Some of you that have lived here all your lives in the wizarding world know who these three people are. But for those of you that don't, it is my pleasure to welcome his and her majesties King Arthur, Queen Gretchen, and their son Prince Nickolas." A brief applause occurred only to be silenced by Dumbledore.

"Their majesties have alerted me that their homeland in the wizarding world is no longer safe thanks to the Dark Lord." Once he mentioned the dark lord an arrival of gasps and mumbles pursued.

"SILENCE" Dumbledore roared to get their attention focused back on him.

"And as you all are aware. Hogwarts is the safest place to be during these dark times. Therefore the King and Queen have asked my permission to house Nickolas here until things calm down since he is their only heir and they cannot afford to lose him. So all of them will be staying here tonight and Nickolas will be staying behind in the morning.

And since he is a member of the royal family this means he will be king one day, therefore every since one of you are to treat him with the upmost respect. Now let the feast began."

Lavender and Parvati turned to look at one another and could not hold back a squeak of excitement.

"Oh Lavender he will be staying here! Can you imagine it if he takes one of us to be his wife? Think about it. Princess Parvati or Princess Lavender, how wonderful that would be." Parvati sighed as she wondered off to dream land with Lavender.

'Well they were right about one thing. This was going to be an interesting turn of events.' She thought as she turned back up at the table to see Nickolas' icy blue eyes piercing into her mocha ones once more.

You all had better love me forever now since I busted my butt off on this extremely long chapter. More to come later. Enjoy


	3. Perhaps a Princess

Perhaps a Princess?

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my original characters.

Don't kill me for not updating fast enough please. Currently my house is being renovated and therefore I've had to pack up all my junk and store it away and I'm still not done. And this unfortunately will effect my internet connection as well. Somehow I will find a way to update as much as I can but there may be times where I won't for a while. Please don't hate me.

To nascarchick: Thanks for the review. I appreciate all of my loyal followers 

To NessaCullen: It might and it might not. I can't say much without revealing plot line but let's just say there is more than meets the eye and who's to say how bad he really is? Thanks for the review by the way

To notwritten: Thanks for the sweet review. You also keep smiling

To Heidi191976: Thanks for your review it means a lot.

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Nickolas' gaze was averted when he heard someone talking to him. That someone was Severus Snape.

"So tell me your majesty…" He began with interruption from Nickolas.

"Please Severus call me Nickolas. Just because I'm a prince doesn't mean I can't be treated like a normal person."

"Very well then Nickolas. Were you pampered enough to receive privet tutoring as a child or did you go to a public institution like Hogwarts?" He said with a hint of sarcasm.

Unfortunately for Severus Nickolas was very sharp and knew how to throw it back in his face.

"Actually Severus I attended Hogwarts in the 90's. Wasn't that the time that you because a death eater?" He asked innocently yet very smugly.

Severus was shocked on how he knew that and he was getting rather angry that this smug boy had rubbed it in his face. Be he knew he must not lose his control and hex him into a thousand pieces for he would be send to Azkaban and be executed on the spot.

"You seem shocked that I know about your past Severus. Have you forgotten that I will one day rule this country? Therefore I have spent many hours studying every single prisoner of 

Azkaban and deatheater alike. I probably know more about you than anyone else here." He said before polishing off his wine.

Severus noticed Minerva watching the both of them and listening to their conversation.

"Is there a problem Minerva?" Severus asked

"Oh no Severus I was just finding it amusing that the naughtiest Ravenclaw I ever taught and my colleague are going at one another like two dogs willing to fight."

"Minerva, it pleases me that you still remember me." Nickolas said as he put his arm around the old witch.

"How could I forget? You conjured up a demonic portal on the 3rd floor your 5th year, you performed a seem undoing charm to almost all the girls your 7th, and let's not forget how you flooded Professor Slughorn's storage room and classroom your 4th." She finished sternly.

"So that's why my storage room smells like mold." Severus butted in.

"Yep I was a real troublemaker back then but don't worry Minerva I'm a good boy now." He said with a goofy grin. Once Severus turned back to his meal, Nickolas took the opertunity to talk to Minerva about a sensitive matter.

"Minerva tell me, who is that charming young lady at that table?" He asked before pointing slightly at Hermione Granger.

Immidiatly Minerva shot him a glare that would have killed him if looks could kill.

"That my dear boy is Hermione Granger. She is the brightest witch of her age and has many plans for a successful future. I don't believe it would be a good idea for you to take her as a wife." She said only to find him startled.

"Minerva, I have no such plans. I was just curious as to who she was because she keeps looking up at me."

"So does Lavender and Parvati but you haven't paid a bit of attention to them."

"That's because they remind me of the whores of the royal court. Every time you look at them they faint, it is rather annoying. But this Hermione girl has class and innocence. She would make a perfect princess you should admit."

Minerva thought for a minute before responding to his statement.

"True she would but I just don't want to see her mind go to waste due to an early marriage."

"Minerva I told you that I have no plans to have a wife at least not now. Don't worry about her okay?" he said with a pat on her back.

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That evening Hermione had taken shelter in the library after dinner. Good thing Lavender and Parvati didn't notice him staring at her almost the whole time instead of those two or else they would act like lions fighting over their meat. And would do anything to get her out of the way. She could not figure out why he would have interest in her anyway. True she was untouched in the bedroom but she had always heard that girls dating royalty had to be good in bed.

And she wasn't the most attractive person in the whole school. Parvati was exceptionally beautiful and she had always been jealous of her for that.

Hermione shook her head in frustration since she could not concentrate on anything else.

"Hermione your being silly. He might not have even been looking at you. But those eyes of his are so beautiful. And it did seem like you locked eyes with him at least once. " She told herself. Little did she know that the person with said eyes was hiding behind a bookshelf listening to her every word.

"It's not like he would even be interested in me anyway."

"Oh contraire young lady you would be very wrong there." He said as he stepped out from behind the bookcase.

"Were you spying on me?" She asked as her cheeks turned pink and was starting to sound angry.

"No not at all. I was just getting a book and I heard you beating yourself up over something so ridiculous."

Hermione looked down at her book, extremely embarrassed that he heard all of that.

"Mind if I sit with you?" he asked politely

"Not at all." She responded as he sat his book down and took a seat across from her. Hermione looked over at the book and immediately became suspicious again.

"So you like reading upon on the theory of the Scientifics of magic?" She asked cocking her eyebrow.

He looked over at the book and began to stammer.

"Um yeah I find the theory very interesting." Biting his bottom lip after wards.

"Really? Then why don't you tell me who created the theory and how they came about it." Hermione retorted not noticing how much she was sound like Professor Snape.

He held his breath for a moment before exiling and confessing he just picked it up as an excuse to talk to her.

Hermione looked very surprised at this and began to speak .

"Why would you want to talk to me in the first place? I mean why not have someone who would willingly give themselves to you without an effort? Like Lavender or Parvati?"

He snorted when she mentioned these two girls. Why did they keep coming up when it came to him? Where they the iconic beauty of the school? If so then they had a long way to go. He thought.

"I'll tell you what I told Minerva this evening. Those girls aren't the least bit attractive to me at all, in fact they remind me of concubines. Iconically beautiful on the outside but a dirty soul on the inside. You on the other hand Hermione are a pure girl both outside and in. You have a class and a grace about you that no one else notices. I would go as far as to say that you have the makings of a princess." He finished with a satisfaction in seeing Hermione's reaction.

Her cheeks were tinged pink over her ivory complexion and faded brown freckles. She didn't want it shown but he knew she was flattered and could tell that she didn't get complements that often.

Suddenly she stood from her table.

"It's getting late, I must be going. I had not realized that we had been talking for hours now."

"May I accompany you to your dorm?" He asked extending his hand.

Hermione smiled at him with flattery sprawled on her face as she took his hand.

As they walked she took a chance to get a better look at him. His hair was just past his shoulders, like Lucious Malfoy's but was a dark black color and very shiny. His skin was pale but it had life to it, almost a sparkle of some sort. His eyes were a cool ice blue that could melt your heart in an instant if he looked at you the right way.

Before she knew it they were back at her head girl dormitory. Before she entered she turned to face him.

"Um thank you for walking me back here your majesty."

"Please call me Nickolas, Hermione. I do not wish for any special treatment while I'm here. But I would like to ask you out on a date this Saturday evening, if that is okay?" He asked glittering a smile.

"Yes that would be lovely." Hermione said dazed as she stared at his smile.

"Great, I'll pick you up here and we will travel to Hogsmede together, I've already got it cleared with Dumbledore ahead of time just in case it came up so don't worry. And until then goodnight princess. May your dreams bring you happieness." He said before kissing the back of her hand in a true gentlemanly fashion.

When Hermione entered her room she flopped down on her bed in rapture before bursting with excitement.

"Oh my god Crookshanks, he asked me out. Me! Oh no what am I going to wear? What will I do about my hair? Oh shit I was supposed to work with Severus that night. Well maybe he will gave me a break just this once right?"

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"N, o, no. Absolutely not. Your apprenticeship is far more important than become part of the royal family and I will not have it." Severus exclaimed after class that Friday afternoon.

"I'm not asking you to relieve me of my apprenticeship. I'm just asking for this one night besides I'm not planning on being in the royal family any time soon."

"Your not, but he is. Don't you understand Hermione? This is part of his plan he'll take you on a few dates, charm you , and propose to you once he thinks you are in "love".

"You don't know him Severus, he is not like that. He is a true gentleman unlike you." Hermione spat getting angry.

Severus doing his best to control his temper tried to talk again but only made the situation worse.

"How am I not a gentleman to you Hermione?" Severus asked in sheer annoyance.

"Let's see, you got drunk with the intention of getting me drunk and told me about some nonexistent feeling you have for me."

"I DIDN'T HAVE THE INTENTION TO GET YOU DRUNK!"

Hermione shrunk back in disbelief and slight fear. In all the years she had known him she had never seen him get this angry.

Severus sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Hermione he isn't worth sacrificing your future for."

"You're not my father Severus, and I'm going to date whomever I want and I'm not sacrificing my future for him. It is just one date. I'm going Saturday night wither you like it or not, I don't need your approval to be happy. Good day." And with that she left his classroom, leaving him in a state of shock, so much that he didn't notice the single tear fall from his face.


	4. A Date?

A Date?

I LIVE!!!!! (lol) Hey guys I'm so sorry I haven't been around in a while and I promise that I have not forgotten this story. Life just got a little hectic, with me going to college and losing my job and struggling to find a new one thanks to this economy. To all my high school readers out there, I just want you to know that you should cherish these moments because believe it or not you are going to miss it, I know I do and I'm not even in a full year of collage yet. From this moment on I solemnly swear no matter what I am doing I will write at least one chapter per week, I hate leaving you guys hanging like I did, I hope you can forgive me.

To Heidi191976: Don't worry she won't get away; I'm just building suspense that is all.

To NessaCullen23: Thanks, your review means a lot

To Nascarchick: Thanks for understanding, it's getting better though slowly but surely

To notwritten: I'm glad you liked the chapter, thanks for the review

To MrsHermioneSeverusSnape: It's all part of the plot don't worry I just can't give away too much.

And with that being said we return to the story you have been waiting for.

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Severus was pissed at what just happened, he screamed a hellish yell and yanked on his oily hair. He then turned to the neat stack of papers on his desk and kicked the whole thing over, desk and all.

"You are so damn stupid Severus; once again the girl of your dreams gets away because of your inability to control your temper. You meant what you said but you can't find the courage to say it to her again. And now the royal assface is going to get her with shiny jewelry and sweet words." He shouted at himself before sliding to the floor in a hopeless mess.

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Draco Malfoy never liked Prince Nickolas from the moment he first set his eyes on him. He came to the Malfoy Manor a few weeks before school had started to have a "little chat" with Lucious, something about his father's taxes or whatever. But that night he had overheard a good portion of the conversation and was stunned to find out that the royal family was connected with the Dark Lord. And now with him being here at Hogwarts, everything seemed to make since. The worst part of it all was that Severus didn't know what was happening because the Dark Lord was getting suspicious about his true loyalty. And now that Nickolas had sought out Severus' apprentice, he would be devastated if he knew. Draco battled in his head for hours wither or not he should go tell Severus. He loved his godfather dearly but his neck would be put on the chopping block and if the dark lord ever found out, he was a goner.

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Saturday came around as quick as the week began. Hermione was happy that today was the day but at the same time she was a little disappointed.

"Severus could be just a little happy for me couldn't he?" She asked Crookshanks, who wasn't even paying attention due to the tasty looking bird outside her window. Hermione sighed; he hadn't spoken to her all week much less even look at her. In class he would mumble "very nice" to her potion without even looking at it then move on, her essays no longer had remarks, just a simple grade. And when she wanted to talk to him he was always busy or was not in his office.

A loud tapping noise from the window interrupted her from her thoughts. She turned to see an exotic looking crane with a piece of parchment tied to his leg, demanding to be let in. She opened the window and it charged in, flying around the room twice before landing on her desk with its leg extended gracefully.

"Thank you. I don't have anything for cranes but do you like owl food?" She asked while handing it out to the bird. It took a whiff of the food and turned its head away and waited patiently for it to be released.

Hermione opened the fancy looking parchment and read the note with immediate guilt.

_I cannot wait for our date tonight, I'm sure you will look stunning. Can I meet you at your dorm at 7?_

_Nickolas_

The more she thought about Severus the more she missed being at his lab and working with him. She knew she could not go on this date tonight and have a good time knowing that there was still bad blood in between them. Grabbing her quill she wrote her reply and hoped that he would not be mad at her as well.

_I'm sorry to have to tell you this on such short notice, but I can't make it tonight. Something important came up and I cannot ignore it. Take someone else tonight or maybe we can reschedule. Once again I'm sorry._

_Hermione_

Hastily she tied the note on to the crane's leg and sent him on his way, hoping he would be okay with what she told him.

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Severus was trying to take his mind off of what was going to happen tonight by destroying students' papers in a sea of red ink when he heard a knock at his door.

"Enter" he spoke, hoping it was not Hermione. He looked up seeing that his wish was granted when a nervous looking Draco Malfoy stepped inside and closed the door carefully.

He noticed from the first night that students had returned he had looked very pale and was jumpy. And it only seemed to get worse with Nickolas being here. It was like he was harboring a secret that he could not tell even though he wanted to.

"Severus, might I ask we go to your privet quarters? There is something very important we need to discuss." Draco asked while shifting his feet.

"Of course Draco." Severus said while locking the door to his classroom and opening the door to his chambers. Sensing it was something very important he cast a silencing charm throughout the room and locked and warded the doors.

"So Draco what is it that you need to talk to me about?" He asked as he sat down in his chair. Draco bit his lip and twiddled his thumbs for a minute before he finally got the courage to speak.

"I think Hermione is in trouble." He said looking guiltily at his godfather. Severus was taken aback and definitely concerned about what he just said.

"What do you mean Draco?" He asked knowing he was getting closer to the heart of the matter. Draco bit his lip one more time before unleashing everything he had been holding in.

"Prince Nickolas came to my house a few weeks ago and wanted to speak to father. I was walking past his room when I managed to catch part of the conversation. The royal family is involved with the dark lord and he wants a son from Nickolas. But it must come from a virgin's womb in order to be all powerful like the dark lord wants. This is where Hermione comes in." Draco finished looking back up at Severus.

Severus was ghost white and his fingers gripped his chair. He knew Nickolas was a snake but he didn't think it was like this. And Hermione was going to be a victim if this was not stopped. He had heard of these kinds of rituals before and knew that if Hermione married him then she was going to die.

"But Draco, if this is the dark lord's plan. Why wasn't I made aware of it?" Severus asked confused.

"The Dark Lord and many of his members including my father are very suspicious of you and are not sure where your loyalties lie anymore. Therefore if they know that the girl they want is close to you, then they will see your reaction and you will be dead for being a traitor."

Severus was trying to digest all that Draco had told him. _"That would explain why I haven't been called lately"_ he thought.

"Draco I can't thank you enough for telling me. I understand that you took a great risk in doing so. But how did you know I cared for Hermione?" He asked.

Draco chucked, "It's not hard to tell if you pay attention enough. The way you flush when she looks at you a certain way. How upset she looked this week when you were ignoring her, it's quite easy." He said smiling slightly.

"I guess you're right." Severus said

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Nickolas crumpled up the paper and threw it at the window.

"DAMMIT!" He yelled as his eyes glowed slightly golden as his rage intensified. How dare she try to stand him up after all the measures he took to make this evening perfect. He bought her a gift of a diamond and sapphire necklace, he got the best spots in the restaurant, and he even made arrangements to go with her by unicorn drawn chariot through the Angel valley, just beyond Hogsmede. And for what? To be told that she had more important things to do? He took several deep breaths to calm himself down. He would give her this opportunity and probably take that Parvati bitch instead, in more ways than one.

"_Maybe this night won't be a waste after all."_ He thought as he wrote a note to his temporary release, Parvati.

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7 pm rolled around and Severus let out a heavy sigh, knowing where Hermione was but knew he could do nothing to stop her. He started to mix up a batch of dreamless sleep potion, when he thought he heard something behind him, but chose to ignore it.

"Need some help?" He heard the familiar voice behind him ask. He turned around to see Hermione standing there in her lab coat and her hair pulled back in a bun, beautiful as always.

"Hermione." He said exasperated as he pulled her into a hug and noted surprisingly she was hugging back.

"I thought you were going on a date tonight." He pulled away to mention to her.

"I was but I felt so horrible that we had not been speaking to each other that I knew I could not have a good time because I would miss you too much." She said before blushing slightly.

Severus smiled when he heard this and decided to man up to what he had done.

"Hermione I'm sorry that I lost my temper, I guess I was a little jealous. Do you think that maybe we could start over again? I miss talking to you." He said while smiling.

"I would like that very much." She responded

More to come soon I promise. And by the way, for those of you that like Parvati, you might not want to read the next chapter. Tootles


	5. Danger and Desire part 1

Danger and Desire Part 1

Disclaimer: Don't own anything except my original characters.

To Sjell: Thanks for the review; the good parts are just getting started

To chibi-dono: Thanks for your review.

To Heidi191976: oh if only you knew, things are always subject to change

To loveismagic: yes it's sweet but it gets juicier

To notwritten: good to hear from you again too. Thanks for your review and I will keep smiling

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Hermione sat down at the lab desk preparing to add some ingredients to the dreamless sleep potion when Severus broke out of his surprised state and began to speak to her.

"I'm so glad you're here and not out with him. But what made you change your mind?" He asked as he sat down beside her.

"Well I'm not saying your right about the situation but I did get to thinking that maybe this was all going too fast and that I might get sucked into to the royal family faster than I would have wanted."

"That's good enough for me Hermione." Severus said as he stirred the potion. He then set the spoon down and then turned himself to stare at her.

Hermione noticed that he was staring at her and when she turned to face him she noticed a conflicting look upon his face.

"What's the matter Severus?" Hermione asked as reached out and touched the top of his hand.

Severus bit his bottom lip as he ran his thumb over her hand. He wanted to tell her what Draco had told him but would she believe him? Hermione had a thing about seeing the good in everyone no matter what their actions were, and sometimes he envied that about her. But would she defend Nickolas if he told her? He didn't know but he figured he had to get it out in the open one way or another.

"Hermione, I just got you back and I don't want to lose you again, but there is something I must tell you about Nickolas." Severus said almost pleading and that was something he never did.

Hermione was shocked about the urgency in his voice. She figured he would go on a tirade about what kind of person he is from a man's perspective. But the tone of his voice told her differently, whatever it was that he needed to tell her was important and she should not stop him.

"Go ahead Severus, whatever it is it must be important." She said urging him to continue.

"Okay, I know you have noticed how nervous Draco Malfoy has been recently."

Severus started. Hermione was surprised again because she thought they were going to talk about Nickolas but what did Draco Malfoy have to do with this? Hermione nodded her head anyway and allowed him to continue.

"He came to me earlier this evening and said that he needed to speak with me. So we came to my privet quarters and had a little chat. What I found out was that he was harboring a dark secret from the summer break. Apparently Nickolas had come to the Malfoy Manor a few weeks before and said that he wanted to discuss with Lucious about his taxes." Severus paused. Hermione immediately found this suspicious when she heard it.

"But doesn't Kingsley Shackolbolt take care of those things?" She asked

"Precisely why Draco didn't by it. Draco is not one to eavesdrop but this seemed to be too good to miss out on so he stopped by his father's study and heard them talking. Lucious had told Nickolas that my loyalty was being questioned by the Dark Lord and that a test for my loyalty was coming shortly. This is where Nickolas and you come in."

Hermione's head was spinning, Nickolas was involved with Voldemort? But why? Hermione beckoned him to continue before she fainted.

"Apparently Voldemort wants an heir since his transformation has caused him to become sterile. So Nickolas was sent here to find a witch that would fit the princess criteria by being smart and very beautiful." Severus accented the last part which in turn caused Hermione to blush. "Nickolas would charm her with expensive gifts and lavish dates that would cause the witch to fall in love with him. Once this happened they would leave Hogwarts and go back to the castle and marry. They would then work hard to produce a son and once they did it would be handed over to the Dark Lord and the princess would die." Severus finished, afraid to say anymore judging by the look on Hermione's face.

Hermione stood up and held her stomach tightly. She thought she was going to be sick but did her best to not be.

"He was going to use me for my ovaries?" Hermione whispered to the wall. A terrible shaking started to engulf Hermione as waves of tears started to cascade down her face.

Severus immediately jumped up and wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed.

"It's going to be alright I promise. Now you know the truth before any damage was done." He whispered to her as she turned around and wrapped he arms around him and continued to sob.

Severus had never been good with crying women but when it came to consoling Hermione he felt like it was more natural than anything in the world.

"Come; well go talk more in my chambers." He whispered to her as he turned off the heat to his potion. Knowing it would be a total loss but it was worth it if he got to hold her tonight.

Hermione's sobs had turned to hiccups by the time they got to his chambers. Hermione sat herself down on the couch remembering she had not been there since the incident occurred. But now she was wondering would it have been so bad to make love to Severus?

Severus lit a fire and sat down next to her and put his arms around her once more. He worried that he might have overloaded her with information and hated seeing her this way.

"Tell me what you're thinking; it will do you no good to keep it inside." He told her as he stroked her hair.

"I just keep thinking what might have happened if I did go with him tonight. He could have had me then if I didn't back out." She said as her sobbing ceased.

"So you really believe what I said?" He asked her in disbelief

"Of course Severus, you have given me no reason to not trust you." Hermione said as she smiles at him.

Then his mind wanted back to that faithful night when he almost lost her forever.

"Oh yes I have and I think you know what it is too." Severus said looking a little hurt.

Hermione sighed in disbelieve that he was still holding a grudge against himself for what had happened.

"Well now I begin to wonder if it would have been so bad after all." She said sheepishly

Severus looked down at her surprised at what she said. In all of his years of existence he never thought he would hear that come from a woman he desperately cared for.

"_No that's not the right wording for it. It's more like love wouldn't you agree Severus." _ His inner conscious told him which he had to agree was right. He loved Hermione Granger and wanted her to be with him forever but only if that was what she wanted.

"Severus I lost you again!" She said while waiving her hand in front of his face.  
"You know you might want to get your head checked out, you keep drifting into dreamland." Hermione giggled as she spoke.

"Oh shut up." He laughed as he slowly began to tickle the back of her neck, the part of her she was ticklish the most.

"Severus dammit stop!" She yelled as she fell over in fits of laughter. Severus new if he kept it up he would probably get smacked like the last time he did this but right now he wanted nothing more than to make Hermione laugh. He tickled her so hard that they didn't realize that she had fallen onto her back on the couch and Severus ended up on top of her until the laughter subsided.

Hermione noticed that he was on top of her and she didn't seem to mind. She slowly leaned up to where they were just inches apart from each other and locked her lips with his. The kiss was gentle at first with careful maneuvering of one another's tongues but quickly turned heated as Severus slowly pushed Hermione back onto her back. He could feel her legs wrap around him and this gave him the confidence to explore.

He trailed down her neck and sucked like he was a vampire. Hermione began to moan as her pleasure increased and she tangled her fingers in his soft black hair. He then came to the swell of her heaving breasts; he could feel himself getting hard and wondered if Hermione felt it too. He then started to rub and gently squeeze her breasts outside of her shirt as she began to moan even more. He then slipped his hands underneath her shirt and bra to feel her bare breasts. He noted that they felt even better than what he had imagined when he noticed Hermione was attempting to unbutton his many buttons on his shirt.

"Damn Severus why do have so many buttons?" She asked as she struggled until she gave up and pulled out her wand to make his layers of shirts disappear.

"My aren't we impatient." He said before kissing her again. Hermione slithered out of her shirt and bra until she was bare-chested like he was.

"Shall we go to the bedroom?" He asked her before sweeping her up.

He noticed that she bit her lower lip in a hesitant way before answering.

"Severus I do want to make love to you but I just got you back and I don't want to lose you again, like you told me earlier. I just don't think that I'm fully ready yet, and I want to do it right. No worries, or nothing just dedication and love between you and I." She finished.

Severus set her back down feeling a little hurt but he knew she meant well and she was right. They had just starting speaking to one another again and sex might be good but it also might not be.

"You are not mad at me are you?" She asked looking worried. Severus then turned to her and gave her a big hug feeling her bare back as she returned it.

"No Hermione I'm not mad. You're right we should take things slow. And when Nickolas is gone or stops bothering you only then I think you and I will be ready for one another." He said as he handed her, her shirt and bra back.

"That reminds me shouldn't we inform someone about him. Like Dumbledore?" She asked while finishing getting dressed.

Severus shook his head in response as he finished buttoning his shirt. "We cannot Hermione; this is something we will need to deal with on our own. Dumbledore likes Nickolas and doesn't know of his evil plot but if he was told it would not matter because his adoration for him exceeds all logic. Plus Draco would be in trouble because he tipped us off and he would suffer severe consequences from the Dark Lord or his father one."

Hermione thought about this and gave in. She didn't like the fact he could run free and go after any girl he wanted. "Then what am I supposed to do Severus?"

"You avoid him as much as possible. Don't respond to his messages, don't talk to him and especially you should have someone with you at all times like Potter or Weasley. I get the feeling that they don't like him either." He said while she shook her head in response.

"If you feel scared or threatened at night you can always floo from your head girl quarters down here and I will protect you." He said.

Hermione kissed him and smiled after his response. "I feel safer already." She said

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Hermione came into the great hall for breakfast that morning noting that there were a lot more people at the Gryffindor table than usual and that they were surrounding a shaking Lavender.

Hermione came over and sat down just enough to where she could hear her speaking to everyone else.

"Parvati never came to the dorm last night. She told me before she left that she had a date with Prince Nickolas. And when I woke up this morning a dingy looking owl was at the window with a small parcel in its beak. It was addressed to me even though there was no reason for me to have one." She paused starting to tremble and cry hysterically.

"What happened next?" Ron asked looking gravely concerned.

Lavender gained control of her sorrow and began to speak again.

"I had opened the parcel and there was a bloody finger inside it that had Parvati's family ring on it. On the inside of the box written in spiky, bloody letters were "_She was fun"_ Lavender finished while beginning to sob again. Everyone at the table looked at one another in shock and Hermione turned pale white after the outcome of the tale. Just then the doors to the great hall opened and a smiling, charming Nickolas stepped through them.

Lavender lost it then. She barreled over the table and proceeded to make her way towards Nickolas when Harry and Ron grabbed her.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH! WHAT DID YOU DO WITH HER?" She screamed at him while trying to get away from Harry and Ron.

"I don't have a clue what you are talking about Miss Lavender." He said attempting to look honest.

"YOU'RE A MURDERER! YOU'RE NO PRINCE! GO ROT IN HELL!" She screamed before she spat on him. Nickolas looked up at her with his ice blue eyes turning slightly golden.

"That's enough!" Dumbledore yelled as he made his way down to Lavender.

"I'll have you know Miss. Brown that Nickolas was already questioned and ruled out as a suspect in Parvati's disappearance." Dumbledore said.

Lavender as well as everyone within an earshot were surprised. They had thought for sure that Nickolas was a murderer and some still were not convinced.

"But how?" Lavender asked in disbelieve when she turned back to Nickolas.

"I will tell you if you can refrain yourself from spitting on me again. I should have you punished for such an act but I'm feeling generous this morning." Nickolas said as he took a handkerchief and wiped of his suit.

Lavender bowed her head and urged him to speak.

"True I did take Parvati out last night after Hermione Granger cruelly rejected me." He began as everyone's eyes traveled over to the seething Hermione.

"So I offered to take her out instead, she gladly accepted and we met that night at her dorm." I took her to Hogsmede for dinner and dancing, and then we took a carriage through the Angel valley. When I was about to take her back to Hogwarts she told me that she needed to use the restroom first. So I waited on her and after about 10 minutes I began to get worried. So I used my royal privilege to go into the girl's bathroom there at the restaurant and she was gone. On the counter by the sink was a very disturbing note in spiky handwriting and signed by Lord Voldemort. It said that he would have fun with this one and bring her back piece by piece." I was so shocked by this that I ran back to Hogwarts and alerted Dumbledore. Then around 7:00am I received a parcel by a dingy looking owl at my window."

Hermione could not believe what he was saying, there was no way any of this could have happened but everyone believed it.

"This is an outrage! There is no way this could have happened" Hermione yelled as she stood up from her chair.

"There were also witnesses to this Miss. Granger that support Nickolas' story. This is how we cleared him."

Hermione was so angry that her nails were digging into her hands and also bled.

"I don't know how you did this Nickolas nor do I know why. But I swear I will find out and you will be marked as the murderer you are!" Hermione yelled while pushing past him and leaving the great hall.


	6. Danger and Desire part 2

Danger and Desire Part 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my original characters

To LadyNorth76: Thanks for your review. I'm glad you love my story.

To loveismagic: yes drama is good, thanks for your review

To Heidi191976: She could do that but there is always a rat in a group of girls plus they might not all believe her since he is supposedly so wonderful. Thanks for the suggestion though.

To notwritten: Oh but this is just the tip of the iceberg. Thanks for your review.

To mychemicalrelapse: keep in mind that this is a love triangle but it will get there eventually. Thanks for the review.

To MrsHermioneSeverusSnape: Thanks for your review.

To chibi-dono15: Thanks for your review.

To potter6: I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for your review.

MUST READ THIS BEFORE STORY: I wanted to give a warning to everyone about what is to come. What might happen in the next few chapters might cause some of you to be angry and want to send nasty reviews. But keep in mind this is a love triangle story and eventually we all know where it is going to lead but for plot's sake we need to take a shortcut. So it might be frustrating at times but I would appreciate it if everyone just roll with it. Thanks you all for your dedication to this story.

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Hermione raced up to her dorm, fuming mad after what transpired in the great hall. She could not believe that Professor. Dumbledore could be so stupid and take up for a bloody murderer just because he has money and power.

"_I don't know how you did this Nickolas nor do I know why. But I swear I will find out and you will be marked as the murderer you are!" _ Hermione's words echoed through her head for a while as she was thinking of how it could have been done.

KNOCK KNOCK

Hermione jumped from her bed and pointed her wand at the door, like Severus had told her to do.

"Who's there?" Hermione asked

"It's us Harry and Ron. We want to talk to you about what happened this morning Hermione." Harry finished outside the door.

Hermione opened the door and quickly ushered them inside then took a quick looks around outside to see nothing but a dark hallway.

"Bloody hell Hermione, your acting more jumpy then a wombat with an arrow in its arse." Ron said as he sat down on her bed while she locked and warded the door.

"Can you blame me? There is a killer loose in Hogwarts because of me and now he will want to come after me even more now. Or do you believe the lies he is telling everyone too?" She asked while looking up at them.

"Neither one of us believe a word he says anymore. At first we thought he was cool just like everyone else did but then he started to look at you like you were his next meal and then this whole thing about Parvati came up." Harry said

"Oh dear this is absolutely insane." Hermione exclaimed as she plopped down on her bed.

"Don't worry Hermione, we will protect you, if he dares to try to get near you we will send him running back home to his mommy." Ron said while hugging her.

"Thanks guys I feel better already, now would you all mind accompanying me down to Severus' dungeon? We have a lot of work to do and it is best that…" Hermione paused in mid sentence when she noticed the expressions on her overly dramatic friends' faces. Ron's eyes had become saucers while they gawked at her and Harry's mouth hung open just waiting for a juicy fly.

"What in the devil is wrong with you all?" Hermione asked as she walked over to her vanity and started to brush her hair again for the 100th time that morning.

"You called the great bat of the dungeons by his first name!" Ron exclaimed.

"Are you ill or something?" Harry asked as he proceeded to put his hand on her forehead.

Hermione realized the error of her speech and quickly turned around to the mirror to try to hide her budding blush and to quickly think of a response.

"But of course I would call him by his first name. We have been working together for a long time now and I am his apprentice after all." She said while putting in a pair of short gold earrings and a dot of perfume on her wrists and neck.

"I guess were not used to hearing that from you, but why are you getting dolled up? I mean perfume, earrings? That's out of character for you Hermione." Harry responded.

"Oh boys you all are so silly, I'm not that brainiac girl you met six years ago anymore. I am a young woman and therefore I do things that young women do now like wear jewelry and perfume. Now are we going to waste time talking about my appearance or are you going to accompany me to the dungeons?" She asked while grabbing her notebook and quill and proceeded to walk out the door.

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"YOU IDIOT, DON'T YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!" Nickolas' mother Grace yelled at him through they're specialized communication sphere.

"But mom it was an accident." Nickolas protested only to be cut off by a very irritated Grace.

"Oh don't use that tired old line on me Nickolas, we both know that isn't true. "

"Your right I did mean it but that is beside the point. These fools here are very easy to manipulate including that idiot Dumbledore."

"Yes but does the girl believe you?"

"Huh?"

"The girl that the dark lords wants, the one that you have been trying to get to love you for several months now! Does she believe you?"

"Umm about that…"

Grace froze in her anger, "Are you serious?" she asked menacingly

"Now mom understand the fact that she isn't easy to convince. She is very smart and must not have poor self esteem."

"IF I COULD BE THERE NOW I WOULD KILL YOU MYSELF!" she yelled.

"Well now you know what you need to do. You must go to plan b, if she won't come to you on her own then you must go to her and this time don't fail me! Everything is on the line and you know it." She finished as her image disappeared from the sphere.

Nickolas lied back in his chair as he held the velvet ring box tightly

"Sometimes I wish it wasn't me forced to do this task my pet." He said to his crane that was perched up on his stand, pruning his feathers.

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Hermione was at her work station innocently mixing ingredients together when Severus surprised her by wrapping his arms around her from behind.

"You know that was very unprofessional, what if I dropped something and it caused us to die?"

"Then I hope where ever we go, we go together." He responded before kissing her cheek.

"You smell good by the way." He said while giving her a light pat on the butt.

"Well aren't we playful today." She chuckled as she finished up her potion.

"What can I say, that little outburst you gave this morning got me excited." He said while taking her in his arms.

"I guess I will have to get mean more often." She said before kissing him.

Since the first time they kissed it had become more "in the moment". Time would stand still so to speak, the meetings of their mouths were hotter and gentler as each one of them sucked in the moment as long as possible.

"I never get tired of that." She responded, breathing heavily afterwards.

"Me neither." He said while tightening his grip on her.

"Hey are we done for today?" She asked with a little sparkle in her eye.

"Yes I suppose so; your potion needs to sit for 24 hours so we are. Why?"

"Well I was thinking it is such a nice day today, I was thinking we could go take a walk."

Severus seemed a little uncertain about this as he looked at her.

"Hermione that does sound nice but what if were seen together? I might be in trouble with Dumbledore depending on his mood and you will face relentless torture from your classmates and I wouldn't want you to go through that."

"You and I can be discrete, we will keep some distance from one another, enough to not rouse suspicion, and when we can find a spot all our own then we can be ourselves." Hermione said.

"And you're okay with this? I thought you might be upset if I suggested this." Severus said surprised.

" Severus honey I understand, it saddens me a little bit but this is the best thing for now plus since were taking things slow it doesn't affect me as much if we were in a serious relationship."

"I thought we are in a serious relationship."

Hermione turned to him a little surprised and crossed her arms.

"Explain your logic." She said.

"Well I'm committed to you and I hope you are committed to me, I can't get you out of my head even when I'm working on deadly potions, and I would go as far as to say that…" Severus stopped and shuffled his feet nervously.

"To say what Severus?" She asked while her heart was in her throat.

"Oh never mind I'm just rambling it is really silly anyway, come on lets go for that walk." He quickly said as he proceeded to walk out of the laboratory door.

"Yes let's go." Hermione said trying to mask her sadness.

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Later on that night Hermione retreated to the library but as hard as she tried she could not get any studying done, but instead her mind kept going back to the conversation that Severus and Her had earlier.

"_Of course I'm committed to him but what was he going to say to me? Was he going to say that he loves me? Oh Hermione get a hold of yourself, he isn't in love with you or else he would have said so plus how long has it been since he has been in a relationship let alone with someone that can match his intelligence?"_

"Someone is lost in thought" a voice said behind a bookshelf, a very familiar voice.

Hermione's blood ran cold and the hair on the back of her neck rose, she reached for her wand and just as she extended it Nickolas was sitting in the chair in front of her.

"What do you want?" She asked him, never lowering her wand.

"You still believe I'm a murderer and that I would love nothing more than to harm you don't you? Well rest assured my dear all I want is to talk to you, now will you please lower your wand? I'm sure your arm is getting tired." He said before a generous smile.

Hermione reluctantly lowered her wand but still kept it near her and never let her guard down as he began to speak to her again.

"My dear Hermione I swear to you on my royal blood that I did not kill Parvati. I know she was your friend and you feel that if I didn't go out with her that she would still be here. But keep in mind that it could have been just as easily you as it was her if you had gone out with me."

"Don't you dare try to pin this on me like it is my fault Nickolas!" Hermione semi yelled since they were in the library.

"I'm not Hermione I'm just saying if Lord Voldemort wanted whomever I was out with that night then I would have been powerless to stop him."

"You say his name like it is nothing, you're not terrified like everyone else?"

" Well if I was then what kind of prince would that make me? I laugh in the face of danger ha ha ha ha!" He laughed and threw a kind smile at her once again but quickly became serious.

"Why did you stand me up that night Hermione? I was really looking forward to our date, after all I really do like you Hermione."

Hermione blushed as he said this even though the rational part of her mind was screaming at her to not listen and this was all just a trick.

"All right do you really want to know? Professor Severus Snape is my potions master and I'm his apprentice, we had a big fight over something ridiculous and we had not spoken to one another that whole week. I had felt very guilty and needed to make up with him, that is why I didn't go with you." She finished and looked back down at her hands.

"You are in love with him aren't you?" Nickolas said sounding surprised.

"What? No I'm not! We are just good friends and I hate it when we fight that's all. Why am I even talking to you about this anyway I don't even like you." She said as she was getting up from the table.

"Alright then humor me, go on one date with me this weekend just so I can see what it would have been like. No strings attached or anything then I will leave you alone. How does that sound?"

"No I never will because I don't trust you even if you claim it is no strings attached."

"Please Hermione just one date I'm begging you, if you want it doesn't have to be lavish or anything just a simple picnic in the room of requirement if you want. And then I will never see you again and we can go on with our lives."

"Sounds tempting but no there is nothing you can say that will make me go with you."

"Is it because of Severus?" He asked as she was walking away.

Hermione stopped dead in her tracks and turned around to face him.

"What do you mean?" She asked a little annoyed.

"I thought you were a free thinker Hermione, that no matter what anyone told you, you would make judgments on your own opinions. But it is obvious that Severus doesn't want you seeing me because he thinks I'm a bad influence when he doesn't know me at all and neither do you that is why I'm asking for just one date so you can know the real me."

Hermione bit her lip waging a battle in her head back and forth as to wither or not he could be right. Was Severus actually jealous that she might go out with Nickolas instead of him?

"Alright fine one date and only one. A picnic in the room of requirement next Saturday night at 7. No gimmicks, no strings.  
Nickolas smiled "but remember Hermione it is our little secret"

Hermione nodded her head and left Nickolas in the library alone.

Nickolas chuckled "After all one date is all it takes." He said while rubbing the velvet box in his pocket.


	7. Confusion and Heartbreak

Confusion And Heartbreak

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my original characters. I had received so many reviews last time that if I replied to them all it would be at least 3 pages. So I want to think everyone for their reviews and for the one that think that my story is moving too fast let me just say that I've read stories that move faster than this and they turned out great so I like how it's going and if you don't I'm sorry but I'm not changing a thing. Also keep in mind that before the story started they had spent the whole summer together, so they would get close rather quick and easy.

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"_My God what have I done?" _Hermione asked herself as she paced around her room in a state

of panic. _"What am I going to do? If I go on a date with him I would be betraying Severus, _

_but he somehow found out how I feel about him and he might run straight to Dumbledore if _

_I don't." _Suddenly a knock from her door startled her from her thoughts.

"Who is it?"

"It's me Ginny, can we talk?"

"Yes hang on" Hermione said as she brought down her wards and let Ginny in.

"Alright what has gotten into you Hermione?" Ginny asked.

"I don't understand what…"

"Oh don't give me that crap Hermione. Ever since that day in the dining hall you act like someone will hurt you around every corner and you also seem burdened like your hiding a secret or something." Ginny finished as Hermione burst into tears.

"Oh Ginny why did things go so wrong? I've messed up so badly and I want to make things right." Hermione sobbed as she sat down on her bed and Ginny joined her.

"Why don't you tell me everything from the beginning?" Ginny said as she patted her friend's shoulder.

"Well it all started when I took my apprenticeship with Professor Snape." She told Ginny everything that had been weighing on her mind for so long. The secret relationship with Severus and not being sure if he loved her, Nickolas' relentless pursuing of her and him somehow finding out how she felt for Severus and using that to his advantage, to finally the date she agreed upon.

Ginny was shocked and a little angry that Hermione didn't tell her all of this was happening sooner.

"So let me get this straight, you're in love with the greasy git, the wonderful prince isn't so wonderful after all and he tricked you into being unfaithful to Severus and will tell Dumbledore about you two if you don't go on this date?"

"Yes Ginny you got it, I'm a hopeless mess but I love Severus so much, what should I do?"

Ginny thought for a moment before carefully answering " First of all I'm disappointed in your taste in men but when you talk about him your face just lights up with happiness so all I can say is that he better be in love with you because I know of some people who would love to get their hands on him. Second what would most likely happen if Nickolas went to Dumbledore?"

"Well he would be in trouble for seeing a student and probably fired, I would suffer relentless teasing from classmates and probably punishment from Dumbledore." Hermione answered.

"Then we can't have him running his mouth, I see no other alternative but to go on this date Hermione so you can protect yours and Professor Snape's secrete, just don't let him find out what you are doing and on the night of the date don't drink anything and don't sleep with him."

"I won't and thanks Ginny for your advice." Hermione said

"You're welcome but next time come to me sooner before you get yourself in another mess like this." Ginny said before leaving.

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"Do you have any plans this Saturday night darling?" Severus asked while they were both grading papers.

"Uh actually I do, I have a History of Magic test on Monday I need to prepare for and an Ancient Ruins test that day to so I'm going to be very busy." Hermione rambled until she got herself to shut up.

"Well that's too bad because I happen to be free that night and had made reservations at a nice place in Hogsmeade."

Hermione wanted to cry, she desperately needed to be with him outside of the laboratory but she had to protect their secret.

"I thought we couldn't be seen together Severus?" Hermione asked.

"It doesn't matter at night because nobody pays attention." Severus smiled at her.

"Hermione felt herself start to cry "I'm sorry Severus I just can't" Hermione said before running out of the dungeons and up to the astronomy tower.

Hermione climbed the astronomy tower stairs to find none other than Luna Lovegood looking

up at the night sky from one of the windows.

"Luna what are you doing here?" Hermione asked after finally calming down. Luna turned her head slightly to see Hermione and smiled at her then turned her face back towards the sky.

"I'm trying to find the osnarks hiding in the sky with the stars, very crafty creatures they are, they blend in with their surroundings and it's almost impossible to find them." Luna said in her dreamy, airy voice.

Hermione blinked a few times before shaking her head; if there was one thing she would never be able to understand in this world it would be Luna's way of thinking. Her train of thought was interrupted when she heard Luna speak again.

"Might I ask why you are here Hermione?" Luna asked as she turned around fully to face Hermione.

Hermione sighed and sat down, trying to find the right words in the process.

"Luna can I ask you a somewhat personal question?" Hermione asked.

"I don't see why not" Luna responded.

"What would you do if you thought you were in love with someone but your love was forbidden and on top of that someone else was trying to win you over and he appeared to be better for you but he was really a phony?"

Luna just stared at her for a while; her dainty blue eyes seemed to be searching Hermione's soul, picking it piece by piece before finding the words to speak.

"Sometimes Hermione we are given choices we never thought we would need to choose from, while some choices can be confusing the one that is always clear is the feeling of love. If you truly love someone then you must see how your choices will affect them. You're good at analyzing problems and gaining knowledge Hermione, use that to your advantage to guide your destiny."

Hermione was awestruck, how the hell in one moment she could be talking about osnarks and in the next she was giving damn good advice about her love life? Well one thing was for certain, Luna Lovegood was definitely a mad genius. Hermione stood up and gave Luna a hug that let her appreciation show.

"Thanks Luna, you are the best" Hermione said.

"Here" Luna said while handing her a ring, a ring made of kudzu vines and peach pits.

"You seems to have a bad case of weeble bees, that's why you can't think clearly. Wear this ring and it will keep them away." Luna said while sliding it on Hermione's finger.

"Eh thanks Luna." Hermione said while leaving the astronomy tower.

"Anytime." Luna replied.

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The next morning everyone was in a grave mood, _The Daily Prophet_ told that Parvati's body had been found outside Godrick's Hollow with only one finger missing, thus clashing with Nickolas' story. In a way Hermione was not surprised that he decided not to attend breakfast that day, _"probably already anticipating hell breaking loose"_ Hermione thought. Lavender and Padma had been inconsolable despite the attentions given from their boyfriends Ron and Dean. Hermione had felt a little sad herself now that everyone's fears had come to light.

Hermione looked up at the head's table to see that Dumbledore had his hands clasped together and his eyes revealing a twinge of regret, Maggonagal covered her faces, trying to hide the fact that she was crying. Severus however she noticed the most, he looked as though he was trying to hold back rage which for him was the equivalent of sadness. Severus locked eyes with Hermione and his gaze softened a little at her troubled face. All of this hurt in the Great Hall only motivated Hermione into doing what she must, she was both nervous and excited at what she was going to do but she was a Gyriffndore and she was not going to back down.

Once everyone left the Great Hall and made out into the hall way, she saw Nickolas approaching her and appearing calm and collected as ever, but that was about to change.

As soon as he got close to her, Hermione gave him a hard, loud slap across the face, one that could have rivaled the punch she gave Draco Malfoy in her third year. Everyone who was talking had fallen silent and were staring at the scene in front of them.

"You son of a bitch, you can no longer sway me, I know where I belong and with whom I belong." Hermione said with as much malice as she could muster.

Nickolas' face rose back up from its downward position and he glared at her with eyes that were almost completely golden, indicating how mad he was.

"You're going to regret that Hermione, you forget I am the future king of the wizarding world, I could have your mudblood head cut off with the snap of my fingers."

"Not if we have anything to say about it." Harry said as he and Ron both came out of the crowd with their wands drawn and were pointing them at Nickolas.

Nickolas chuckled at the display and turned towards the two boys. "You humor me Potter, just because you are the one to destroy the dark lord does not mean you can play hero anywhere else. I would highly suggest you lower your wands before you both do something you both will regret."

"We will regret nothing you royal pain in the ass." Ron said just before he was to fire a curse.

"_Expelliarmus" _Nickolas said and with a flick of his hand, their wands flew across the hall.

"Do you both wish to test me? It looks like you both are at a disadvantage here, I am very powerful at wandless magic while you buffoons are dependent on your wooden sticks, so go ahead and tempt me some more but I promise you it will not be pretty." Nickolas said

Harry and Ron had no choice but to step down then, they could not fight him now disarmed and with that Nickolas turned back to Hermione.

"Now you listen here and you listen well, one way or another you will be mine, I am done with being nice since your attitude proves that you are not as much of a lady as I once believed, but once I have my heart set on something I will get it no matter what. As for your precious secret I think Dumbledore will appreciate learning it."

"Go ahead and tell him then, since this is your chance to do so but I highly doubt he will believe you since you are no longer in his good graces. You will be the one paying the price you murdering bastard, not me." Hermione said as she left the hallway and proceeded to go to class.

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Hermione made her way down to the dungeons that evening, she needed to find her dark companion and talk to him about what happened and what might happen. She knocked at Severus' classroom door with as much energy as she could muster her battle this morning left her utterly exhausted.

"Enter" he said as she came in. Severus looked up at her and immediately looked worried; she was almost quite literally dead on her feet. He got up and went over to her only to have her wrap her arms around him and bury her face in his chest.

"What troubles you so my dear?" Severus asked as he wrapped his arms around her. She looked up at him with such pain in her eyes that it made his heart ache.

"Severus I think we are in trouble." She said, never taking her eyes off of him.

Severus looked around swiftly before locking the door and motioning her to follow him to his chambers. Once there Hermione sat down on the mauve couch and wrapped her arms around herself, starting to slowly succumb to her worry.

"What do you mean you think we might be in trouble Hermione?" Severus asked as he sat down next to her.

"I don't suppose you heard about what happened in the hallway outside the Great Hall this morning?" She asked him.

"Ah yes I did hear Draco talking about it, he would kill me for telling you this but he was quite impressed with how you hit him, he said it made his punch back in third year look like a swat." Hermione chuckled a little at this before turning serious once more.

"Severus, Nickolas knows about us." Hermione said. Severus went pale, and he got up and began to partake in his annoying habit of pacing when he was nervous. Suddenly he stopped and looked at Hermione.

"How does he know? Did you tell him?" Severus asked starting to sound a little ticked.

"Severus come on, why would I tell my important secret to somebody I despise? I don't know how he found out but he has known for quite a while, that was why I could not go out with you this Saturday because he was using my secret as blackmail against me so that I would go on a date with him." Hermione said, sounding ashamed.

"Let me get this straight, you turned me down to go on a date with him because he threatened to tell Dumbledore about us?" Severus asked getting angrier.

"In a nutshell yes, but I didn't want to do it, I would go on a date with you in a heartbeat then go with him. Just so you know now I'm not going to go on a date with him Saturday because of what happened this morning, that why we may be in trouble." Hermione said.

Severus was biting his tongue hard to hold back his anger and not take it out on Hermione, seconds ticked by without anyone saying anything.

"Severus say something please." Hermione asked getting really worried.

"You want me to say something? Okay I will say something, how could you even agree to this even if it was to protect us? You should have told me the truth Hermione; I can't believe you didn't trust me."

"Severus it isn't like that at all, I had no choice but to accept him. What could have we done? Either way we would still be facing the predicament of Dumbledore finding out."

Severus shook his head and sarcastically chuckled. "Hermione Granger you are some piece of work, why don't you just say what you really want to say? You would rather be with him then me anyway because he is good looking, has money, and power and that show in the hallway this morning was just to make me feel better." Severus said bitterly.

Hermione sat there shocked as she looked up at him "How can you say that to me Severus? Nothing that poor excuse of a man has would make me want him. You know me better then that!" Hermione said starting to get angry.

"I thought I did but now I'm not so sure, I'm not convinced that he "just found out" about our relationship, I think you told him because at first you like him." Severus said.

"I did not! I would never have done that!"

"Oh really and why wouldn't you?!"

"Because I love you!" Hermione yelled with tears in her eyes.

Severus was taken aback at what she said. On the inside he was thrilled that she loved him but as much as he wanted to say it back he could not speak, even as the tears fell down her face, he couldn't get one word out. Hermione rose from the couch and turned to look at him.

"Well obviously it was a mistake to come here, but we did find a solution at least to make Nickolas be bluffing." Hermione said bitterly. Severus was confused at first but then it hit him and he wanted to be wrong.

"So you're saying it's over between us." Severus said.

"That's right Professor Snape, there wasn't much to begin with but since you cannot trust me then there is no point in being together. It doesn't matter how much I love you, if there is no trust then there is no love, good day Professor." Hermione said coldly as she walked out the door.

Severus stood there watching her go, not bothering to make a move to stop her, he wanted to staple his mouth shut forever since that was what got him into trouble anymore, yet he could not make himself move an inch because he was too preoccupied with the shattering sound his heart was making.

Okay guys first of all I did not abandon this story nor do I plan too, life just got in the way for a while but I'm back and I will have a new chapter up soon. Thank you all for being there for me even though I take you all for granted, I love you all very much.


	8. Confessions and Love

Confessions and Love

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my original characters. Dang you all are fast, I publish this and in 2 hours I get several reviews, not that I'm complaining, you guys are the best.

To amorreal: I'm glad you love it 

To loveismagic: yea he kinda does, can you blame him though? Poor guy hasn't really had any meaningful relationships so I would not be surprised if he acted like a dope when it came to women 

to notwritten: It just gets more interesting from now on, thank you dearly, you keeps smiling as well 

To Nathalie93: Yes his true colors are starting to come out slowly but surely, I hope this update was quick enough for you 

And as always I send my thanks to the people who liked my story enough to bookmark it, now on with the show.

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It had been days since Hermione had ended it with Severus, and frankly these were the worst days of her life. People had started to notice her deteriorating state but if anybody bothered to mention anything to her it was met with a cold stare and a Professor Snape like snarl. Hermione tried to make herself eat but she found no will to do so and because of this she was becoming rather pale and starting to loose weight. She also appeared to not have a decent nights sleep in a while and the dark bags under her eyes proved it.

At mealtimes she would always take a chaste glance up at the head table and as always she found that Severus was not there, he seemed to be purposefully avoiding her anymore which only deepened her depression even more.

"_Maybe it is my fault, maybe I should have trusted him more. I guess I will never know what might have been" _she thought as she left the Great Hall.

Christmas break was coming soon and everyone was busy talking about what plans they had, Hermione had thought she might have stayed behind to spend time with Severus but since they were no more she though she might as well return home to spend another Christmas alone.

What people didn't know about Hermione's home life was that the best way for her and her parents to get along was if they didn't see much of each other, that was how it had always been and it got worse once she got her Hogwarts letter. Every Christmas she had the house to herself while her parents went on a business conference, she did get gifts on Christmas morning but they were few and far between anymore and there was nobody she could share her love with.

Hermione started to tear up, it didn't bother her much anymore about her home life but in her current fatigued state she could have cried if the mail was late. She didn't seem to be paying much attention until it was too late and she smacked right into a tall figure causing them to knock to the ground.

"Watch it mudblood!" a familiar aristocratic voice yelled at her as she got up off the floor, she looked up to see a very annoyed Draco Malfoy staring back at her.

"I'm sorry Malfoy." Hermione said just barely above a whisper and proceeded to walk past him when he grabbed her arm and forced her to face him.

"Shit Granger what the hell is wrong with you? You look worse than normal." Draco said. He took in her barely surviving appearance and was shocked and much to his surprise slightly concerned.

She looked up at him with bloodshot eyes and whispered a barely audible "nothing" and tried to leave but he was not letting her go that easily.

"You can't lie to me Granger, I can read you like an open book, and I've always been able to." He looked around to see nobody was around them then he tugged her along until they were outside. The first snow had just fallen several nights ago and the temperature took a big dip along with it. Draco pulled his green and silver scarf tighter and adjusted his cashmere coat around him more comfortably.

Her pulled her along until they were at the nearly frozen black lake and sat down under a tree, making her sit as well.

" Alright Granger, one way or another I will get it out of you what is the matter although I think I already have an idea."

Hermione turned to him stunned and a little shaky at what he had just said.

"You don't know anything Malfoy, and even if you did I would not tell you a thing so why don't you mind your own damn business and leave me alone." Hermione said as she got up and proceeded to walk away.

"Would this by chance have anything to do with my godfather?" Draco asked, hitting the nail on the head. Hermione stopped in her tracks and turned around with a horrified expression on her face.

"Apparently it does."

"I don't know what you are talking about Malfoy." Hermione said sounding a little angry.

"Bull shit Granger, I know damn well you and Severus are involved so don't try to hide it from me." He said

Hermione looked as though she was punched in the gut at what she said. _"Had we really been that obvious?"_ she wondered.

"How did you know?" She asked looking defeated and sat back down.

Draco let out a big sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose to try to stop a headache he was beginning to get.

"First of all like I said Severus is my godfather and I know just about everything he does, secondly I've been paying attention to the two of you for a while now and if you watch closely enough you can see the signs."

"I didn't think we were that obvious." She said starting to get worried then she turned to him and gripped the collar of his coat and pulled him closer to her until they were several inches apart.

"Who else knows you ass?!" Hermione yelled looking murderous

Draco shoved her off of him and adjusted his coat while glaring at her.

"For your information Granger, nobody else knows because they are too stupid to suspect anything and I have not told a soul."

"Why?" She said while glairing at him, fully preparing to hear him suggest blackmail of some sort.

"Because I want to see my godfather happy and I have no idea what he sees in you but if you make him happy then I have no complaints."

He then noticed her mood had changed from angry to defeated once again as she was trying her hardest to fight back tears but was loosing the battle quickly.

As she began to cry he sighed and cursed himself for getting soft, he then wrapped his arm around her to try to comfort her, she stiffened in his embrace at first but she relaxed and cried into his chest.

"Shh it will be okay." He said while stroking her hair with his leather gloved hand. After a while she calmed down finally and got out of his embrace.

"We ended it a few days ago, it is over between us." She said

Draco was shocked that she bothered to tell him anything and then even more shocked at what she had revealed to him.

"Why? What happened?" curiosity getting the better of him

"He accused me of wanting Prince Nickolas all along instead of him, he had been blackmailing me about our relationship and if I didn't go on a date with him then he would have told Dumbledore and we would have been in big trouble. I didn't tell Severus about this because I knew how he would react and in turn he thought I didn't trust him. So when I told him I loved him he was indifferent to it and that was the straw that broke the camels back so to speak." She finished

Draco stared at her dumbly, surely that was not the cause of the break up but apparently it was.

"I swear Granger you and Severus can be as different as night and day but when it comes to pride you two are as stubborn as two asses."

"You think I'm not with him because I'm stubborn? That's stupid Malfoy, I'm not with him because he doesn't love me, he never said he was and this just confirms it."

"Will you wake up Granger, I know he loves you, he told me himself." Draco said

Hermione was stunned at what he had said.

"How come he can tell you so easily and not say it at all around me?" She asked

"Gra-Hermione one thing you need to understand about Severus is that he is very inexperienced when it comes to women. He has had many adventures in the bedroom but when it comes to romance he is blind. He doesn't know what to say or when to say it, and usually it comes out wrong."

Hermione was surprised that he said her first name but did not pay too much attention to that as much as Draco's confession about Severus.

"I don't see why you both are torturing yourselves; he is in just as bad of shape as you are one of you needs to step up before one of you dies of heartbreak."

For the first time in almost a week Hermione smiled a genuine smile, she understood Severus a little more now and would figure out a way to make this right.

She stood up and gave Draco a big hug, surprising him at first but he eventually was able to hug her back.

"Thank you Draco, for everything. Honestly this was the last thing I expected, with you hating me and all."

"Hermione I don't hate you, you're a pain in the ass but I don't hate you. I guess when you hit me that one time it knocked some since into me, painfully, but it worked." He said while smiling.

"Are we friends Draco?" She asked him

"I suppose so, we will get funny looks and no doubt Potter and Weasel will still want to kick my ass, but really it is fine with me." He said while patting her on the back.

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Hermione made it back to her room to find a raven impatiently waiting outside her window, there was only one person she knew that had a raven. She let it in and it landed on her desk, shivering slightly.

"I'm so sorry, if I had known you were coming I would have came back sooner." She said while untying the parchment on its leg. The raven then flew over to her fireplace and stood in front of it, attempting to get warm again as it waited for a reply.

Hermione opened the letter to see the classy Victorian scrawl she loved so much.

_Dearest Hermione,_

_Meet me in the room of requirement tonight. I feel as though we should talk._

_Meet me here around 7:30 after supper._

_SS_

She thought it simple and straight to the point just like him. She wrote her response and called the raven to her. She tied the note on its leg and scratched the spot behind its head she knew he loved.

Once alone she thought maybe it would be best to look a little less ill, so she went to the bathroom and filled the tub with hot water and her favorite cinnamon and vanilla bubble bath. She cleaned her ratty hair and shaved her legs before soaking for a while. She got out a little later and dried off and wrapped a towel around her hair and charmed it to dry faster. She found her cinnamon and vanilla body lotion and rubbed it into her haggard skin.

She decided that tonight she was ready to be with him if one thing did lead to another, so she transfigured her plain white bra and matching knickers into a red and black lacey number. She dressed and shortened her skirt just a little so she looked like a woman but not like a slut. She looked in the mirror and found her reflection would never do so she charmed her hair into ringlets that flowed down her back and she smoothed in sleekezys hair potion to keep it from frizzing.

She used a glamour charm to hide her bags, and to give her skin a shimmery, peachy glow. Finally satisfied with her appearance she made her way to the Great Hall.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nickolas sat in his room downing a bottle of fire whiskey, trying his best to get drunk and not think about what his parents would say when they found out he might have fucked up permanently this time. Seemingly right on cue his father's face appeared in his communication sphere and frowned at his son's state.

"Nickolas for goodness sake, slow down, you're going to kill yourself." King Arthur scolded as if he was 6 years old again.

"Maybe that was my intention, did you ever think about that?" Nickolas said, very slightly slurred.

"Whatever for? Surely everything is working in our favor. Isn't it?" Arthur asked slightly worried at what he might hear.

"No it is not, I've fucked up worse then ever. I'm a terrible excuse for a prince; I can't even protect my own family."

Arthur sat in silence for a while before carefully choosing his words.

"Would it by chance have something to do with that Indian girl they found a few days ago?" He asked.

"That's some of it, now everyone hates my guts including our target. I would not be surprised if Dumbledore through me out on my ass tomorrow."

"You realize you are very lucky that it is me you are talking to and not your mother, she would be throwing a fit."

"I know dad you don't need to remind me." Nickolas said sounding more cross then ever as he took another swig.

"Well what are you going to do now? The dark lord is getting more impatient by the day Nickolas."

"I think I have no choice but to lay low for a while. My charms and good looks aren't going to get me anywhere if she is totally closed off to me. You're just going to have to tell the dark lord I need more time." He said.

Arthur sighed a frustrated sigh, he might be crucio'd for begging for such a request but his son did have a point, he would just need to grin and bare it like the many times before.

"I will talk to you again in two months Nickolas, and by this time I want a ring on her finger and a wedding in the making. We can't afford to have any more screw ups." Arthur said before disappearing.

Nickolas sighed and took one more swig before setting the bottle down, noticing he drank half of it.

"I hate my life, I don't want to do this, I just want to die." he said to nobody.

After dinner Hermione entered the room of requirement and was amazed at what she saw before her. Candles were flickering around the room as white rose petals were scattered everywhere on the floor and on the furniture.

Her eyes noticed a beautiful and comfortable four poster bed with veils all around it. In the bed was a mixture of white and red petals that fell off the sides. On the table next to the bed she saw a few potions and a bottle that looked like it housed some kind of oil.

"Do you like it?" She heard as she turned around to see Severus step out of the shadows with a bouquet of the most beautiful roses she had ever seen. The outside edges were a velvety red color while the insides were a raspberry and wine mixture. He handed her the bouquet and was surprised to see him get down on his knees in front of her.

He took the back of her hand and kissed it before he spoke.

"Hermione I hope you can forgive me for what I have said. This is all very new to me and I feel as though I've been a horrible mate to you, I've taken you for granted and I have missed you being by my side. With that being said I want to ask you, will you be my girl?" He asked her almost shyly.

Tears filled Hermione's eyes as she took in the scene before her; this was by far the most romantic thing she ever experienced. She took his hand and pulled him off the floor and looked into his eyes.

"Yes Severus I will be your girl, for as long as you will have me."

"What if it's forever?" He asked almost afraid of the answer

"If that is what you want then you've got it." Hermione said as she took him in a powerful embrace. Severus leaned down and kissed her tenderly and passionately at the same time, Hermione ran her fingers through his silky hair as he gripped her tighter. He pulled away from the kiss and placed his mouth near Hermione's ear.

Hermione felt as though her heart would beat out of her chest when she heard him.

"I love you Hermione Jane Granger." He whispered tenderly

She looked into his eyes to find him warm and inviting, her eyes sparkling as she spoke.

"I love you Severus Tobias Snape." She whispered before once again she was enveloped in a passionate kiss.

AN: Sweet isn't it lol and yes it's a terrible cliffy but don't worry because the next chapter is when the lemons arrive and things get steamy. Bye for now


	9. Passion and Pleasure

Passion and Pleasure

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my original characters. Warning: this chapter is filled with lemony goodness so if you should not be reading it or are offended by the material then don't read it. I cannot be blamed for it because I warned you.

To: amorreal: Thank you kindly 

To: loveismagic: I'm so happy that you love it so much

To: notwritten: I'm glad you enjoyed it

To: Nathalie93: I personally think that Draco is not a bad guy at all, just misunderstood because of his upbringing and his distorted views of the world. Hey a good deed never hurt anybody 

To: MrsHermioneSeverusSnape: Yes that would be ideal but if that happened then too many holes would be left unfilled, stay tuned though to see what will happen

_Hermione felt as though her heart would beat out of her chest when she heard him. _

"_I love you Hermione Jane Granger." He whispered tenderly_

_She looked into his eyes to find him warm and inviting, her eyes sparkling as she spoke._

"_I love you Severus Tobias Snape." She whispered before once again she was enveloped in a passionate kiss._

If there was a time in Hermione's life that she felt even more turned on then she was now, she could not remember it, in fact she couldn't think at all due to Severus' passion filled kisses. Hermione laced her fingers in his silky hair and tugged it harder, which was then met with a low growl from Severus. Hermione opened her mouth to him and immediately Severus slid his hot, wet tongue inside.

Hermione moaned as her tongue made contact with his and her arms proceeded to slide down his chest. Feeling her movement, Severus removed his mouth and pressed his searing lips to her right ear and nibbled gently. Hermione shut her eyes and unconsciously held her breath as she dug her nails into his shirt, suddenly feeling that there were too many clothes between them, she attempted to unbutton his first layer of clothing only to have him grasp her hands and look down at her.

"Patience my sweet, we have all of tonight, there is no need to rush." He said before claiming her lips in a gentle kiss once more. Severus moved back to her ear and continued nibbling and taking in the scent of cinnamon and vanilla, the erotic scent that was Hermione. Hermione continued to rub his chest outside of his shirt, since he didn't want her to remove it just yet.

Severus moved one hand from the back of her head, slowly down her side until it made contact with her breast, then proceeded to move his thumb across where her nipple would be and was rewarded with a lusty moan and a hardening nipple. Severus was feeling very hard right now and wanted nothing more to release himself, take a hold of her hips, and fuck her until she begged him to always do so. But this was not a hooker he paid for, this was Hermione Granger, his intellectual equal, his seductress and love, and tonight was all about her, he would do whatever was necessary to make her first time hurt as little as possible.

Severus unbuttoned her shirt and slid it off of her shoulders to meet a black and red lacy bra that tightened her breasts into a deep cleavage. He kissed tenderly down her throat and receiving little gasps of pleasure from her. The trail of kisses led his mouth to her hot cleavage in which he proceeded to lick between her breasts and expelling gasps from Hermione.

"Did you wear this for me?" He asked her before nuzzling her chest like a puppy begging for love.

"Yes I did, I wanted to please you in case something did happen tonight, the underwear… Hermione started to say but instead a loud gasp came from her mouth as Severus teased her nipple outside of her bra. "Matches as well." She was able to finish before taking a hold of his head and lacing her fingers in his hair once more as he educed pleasurable ministrations upon her body.

"Hermione love, you could wear a potato sack and still please me, but I'm honored that you chose to wear such a garment for me and me alone." He said before reaching his hands around her back and tracing circles around the back of her bra before swiftly unsnapping it and letting it fall to the floor.

Hardly anyone ever saw Hermione's body let alone a man, so when she felt her face become flushed and felt the need to look away from him, she was not surprised at this reaction. She attempted to cover herself but Severus would have no such thing, he instead placed his arms on hers and looked her over like she was a piece of art.

Her breasts weren't huge but they were not small either, just the perfect size to fit in his hand and that was good enough for him. Her nipples were light pink and hard, like freshly sprouted rosebuds. Her skin though almost made him moan when he gazed at it. In the firelight her sandy skin tone took on a natural golden shimmer that was begging to be touched. Never in a million years did Severus think that he could be turned on by a woman's skin, but this was Hermione and she never ceased to surprise him.

"Don't shy away from me love." He said while cupping her cheek, making her turn back to look at him.

"Never have I seen a woman so beautiful as you are right now. You are a goddess, my goddess." Severus added before sucking on her neck and tasting her glittery skin and taking her sensitive breasts in his hands. He rubbed and tweaked her nipples gently at first before getting more intense with his movements.

Hermione could not hold back her moans even if she wanted too, and as he became rougher with her sensitive buds, the louder she became. She was positive that if he didn't slow down sometime soon, she would have her first orgasm right now.

"I'm begging you Severus, let me remove at least one layer of your clothing, not only do I feel overexposed, but I have an overwhelming desire to run my nails down your bare back." She whispered in his ear knowing he would not be able to say no now.

"Very well, I suppose one layer could not hurt." He said before she started opening button after button. He knew she would see his body eventually and was secretly terrified as to what she would think. Life had not been kind to him and he hoped she would not change her mind when she looked at him. While lost in his worrisome thoughts he noticed she made quick work of his robes and overcoat. Leaving his white button-down cotton shirt covering his chest and nothing more.

Hermione ran her hands from his torso up to his shoulders, watching her own hands as she did so and took in the feel of the soft fabric under them. She could feel Severus' eyes on her and she sensed that he was anxious for her to see his bare flesh.

"Severus." She said while taking his hands and looking up at him.

"If you're afraid that I'm going to run once I see you, then you might as well expel that thought from your mind because I'm not going anywhere, I promise. I know Voldemort is not kind to his followers and I imagine there will be proof of it on you, but I'm going to be right here with you no matter what." She finished.

Severus didn't know what to say, this goddess of a woman not only told him earlier she loved him but vowed that she would stay here with him no matter how horrible his form was. If Severus was the type of man to cry to at every happy emotion he felt, he knew he would be balling right now. Without thinking he took her into his arms and held her tightly, burying his nose in her hair.

"Merlin woman, what did I do to deserve you?" He asked her before looking back down at her beautiful form once more.

"I love you so much Hermione, I will never tire of saying it." Severus said before enveloping Hermione in a sweet kiss that quickly started to become hot, and bring them back to what they were doing before. Hermione slipped out of her flat shoes and tossed them aside without breaking free from her warm kiss.

Severus' hands found their way to her jeans and began to pull them off. This muggle form of fashion was one of his favorites, not only were they comfortable to wear, but they were easy to take off as well. They slid down to Hermione's ankles and she step out of them before breaking the kiss only to replace her lips on his neck and make him moan the way he did her.

Severus closed his eyes and became lost in the feel of her lips against his searing flesh, and the moans he was making. He was unaware that Hermione had unfastened his white shirt and his bare chest was exposed to her until he felt her small hand run up and down his abs.

Severus pulled away and looked at her, he didn't want to see her reaction but he felt that if she was going to change her mind, he would rather he do it now then later. Hermione pulled the rest of his shirt off and fought hard not to gasp at what she saw.

Severus was built like a god; his muscles were defined and were just right for a man his size. His abs were hard and taught under his smooth porcelain skin. He had a reasonable amount of black hair on his chest, enough to indicate his age but not to make him look like a beast. She also noticed that this black hair got lighter as a trail of it made its way down his stomach then got darker again just under his waistband. She had seen how beautiful he was but then noticed why he was so insecure about her seeing what he hid under his robes.

Scars covered his torso, some old and faded some semi new and darker looking. She wanted to cry for him but knew that this would not help the situation. Still she could not help but wonder how someone could hurt something so beautiful as Severus was. She wanted to freeze when she saw the mark of his master on his arm. She knew he had it, but some irrational part of her mind wanted her to forget that he did. She had seen what the horrid thing looked like before, but now it was like one big blemish against his silky skin.

Severus mistook he gaze for disgust and began to panic as he bent down to pick up his shirt but she took a hold of his arms, forcing him to look at her. He thought she would be horrified at what she saw but her face was the exact opposite. Her eyes glittered like they did when she was happy, and she held a smile that made the last chunk of ice around his heart melt.

"Severus, I don't give a shit what anyone says, you are beautiful. I have never seen a man look so desirable as you do." She said before lifting his arm that held the dark mark up to her lips and she kissed the mark tenderly.

In that instant Severus lifted Hermione off of her feet and gave her a kiss so powerful that she knew she would be dizzy when it was over. She felt herself being carried to the opposite side of the room. She felt velvet and satin hit her back as he laid her down on the bed and continued their feverish kiss as she kneeled above her and intertwined his fingers with hers.

Hermione didn't think that it could get much better than this, she felt so loved and cared for by the man she loved more than anything, she knew nothing could ever top this moment of love she felt for him.

She suddenly felt his hands leave hers and take a hold of the sides of her underwear and began to pull them down, Hermione lifted her hips to help him along until she was free from the last piece of clothing she wore and was naked underneath Severus as stars danced in her eyes.

Severus then stood up and unlaced his boots and rid himself of them and his socks. He then unfastened his belt and removed his pants, leaving him in nothing but a pair of green silk boxers.

"Lie on your stomach." Severus requested as he looked at her before moving over to the table next to the bed. Hermione was a little confused but flipped over onto her stomach and waited to see what he was up to.

"Tell me Miss Granger, have you ever experienced the pleasure of erotic massage?" He asked her before pouring a little of the sweet, warm oil from one of the bottles into his hands and began to rub them together.

She loved it when he went back into professor mode during times like this and knew that he secretly enjoyed it as well. As wrong and inappropriate as it should have felt, she could not deny that it was insanely kinky.

"Why no professor I have not." She replied.

"Well then, allow me to teach you then Miss Granger." He said before his hands made contact with her back.

He barely moved at all and Hermione was already in heaven, he then needed his knuckles into the center of her back and releasing tension there that she didn't realize she had. His hands moved upwards to her shoulders and needed the stiffness out of them and evoking a moan from her in the process. Hermione never knew how pleasurable a message could feel, especially when you were horny. He applied more oil and his hands traveled downward past her back and to her behind. He needed his hands onto it, not in a perverse manner but still a sexual one. She was so lost in the sensation that she nearly jumped in surprise when he spread her legs and began running his hands on the inside of her thighs. Hermione's moans were increasing as he reached ever closer to her steamy core. Just when she thought he would give her release, she felt his hands move away from her pussy and let out a groan of frustration.

"Patience, Miss Granger. You know the most intense orgasms come if you stall them." He said before kissing a trail down her back starting from her neck down to the center of her back.

"Turn over." He instructed. She lay once again on her back and stared up at him with such lust in her eyes that he thought he might cum right there on the spot. He was actually very proud of himself that he was able to last with a raging hard on and not cum, as painful as it was getting to be.

He placed his hands on either side of her neck and started to kneed trails of bliss down to her breasts. He then took one nipple in his hand and tweaked it and the other he placed his mouth on, licking and lapping at it like it was a lollipop. Hermione's breathing became quicker and she thought now she would be able to come, but again Severus moved on before she was able to do so. He led himself down to his destination and with his tongue; he licked his way up and around her clit. Hermione was caught off guard by this but was in no way displeased. She snaked her fingers in his hair and began to moan once again. Her moans became louder once she felt him enter two fingers into her and began to thrust them in and out. Hermione began to see spots and knew she could not hold back much longer.

"I can't stop Severus I'm going to cum!" She yelled as she was right on the edge of hitting her orgasm.

"Then cum Hermione, don't hold back." He said, and at once the floodgates opened and Hermione screamed Severus' name as her juices spilled from her and her breathing returned to normal. While she was getting over the effects of her orgasm, Severus was lapping up Hermione's essence, but leaving just enough for what was to come next.

Severus stood up and walked back to the table and picked up a vile of orange liquid and handed it to Hermione.

"It's a contraceptive potion, drink it before you forget." Severus said. Hermione tossed back the warm, spicy liquid and let it all go down her throat before setting the vile back on the table.

She looked over at Severus and he removed his boxers and freed his erection at last. Hermione's eyes grew as to how big he was; she blushed and looked away wondering if it would all fit.

She saw him coming back to the bed and she slid back down on her back and spread her legs for him, looking at him lustfully. Hermione thought since now was the time, she would be nervous, but that message Severus gave her really helped calm her nerves and just think about the man she was giving her virginity too.

Severus moved so that he was on top of her but he supported his weight on his elbows as he looked at her.

"Last chance to back out Hermione, there is no going back." He said while looking at her lovingly and prayed that she would not change her mind.

"I don't want to back out Severus, I love you." She said before kissing him. He positioned himself at her entrance and looked at her once more before he started to push in her.

Hermione gasped at the sensation she was feeling, he was filling her and it felt so good. He then stopped and she knew that he reached her barrier; he looked at her worriedly before she nodded. He brought his face inches from hers and looked deeply into her eyes.

"I love you." He whispered before kissing her and thrusting past her virgin barrier and filling her to the hilt.

Hermione tensed and small tears leaked from her eyes as she looked back up at him.

"I'm so sorry love, I hate that I had to hurt you. Just tell me when you are ready." He said soothingly while wiping her tears away. They waited a few minutes so she could adjust to his size, then she nodded for him to continue.

He slowly pushed out and thrust back in, developing a rhythm. She felt so good and tight around him, and once again he had to resist cumming. Hermione began slightly moaning before her moans became fully fledged and music to his ears. She instinctively thrust her hips forward and met Severus with his thrusts.

"Oh Hermione you feel so good." He moaned as he sped up his thrusts.

"Severus, harder please." Hermione begged before he started thrusting full force into her.

Before Hermione thought Severus could not look more beautiful, but her opinion quickly changed when she saw him now. Beads of sweat were forming on his brow and upper lip, his eyes were so dark with love and lust she thought she could drown in them, and his teeth were clenched together as low grunts came from his throat.

Hermione was in heaven, she didn't realize that sex felt so good, only to find out that it was starting to get better. A tingly feeling from her toes was rising in her body, her orgasm was coming and it was going to be strong.

"Severus I'm going to cum!" She yelled as she thrusted her hips harder.

"I think I'm going to cum too love!" Severus said through his clenched teeth.

Suddenly colors and sparklers were forming in Hermione's vision, and then the most intense orgasm she ever felt hit her.

"SEVERUS!!!!" She screamed as she gripped his already clawed back and released.

Severus on the other hand was still moving until he felt her walls clamp down for the second time and a second orgasm hit her and caused his to spring forth.

Severus yelled, almost animalistic before spilling his seed inside her and collapsing on top of her. Breathing hard they looked at once another before Severus rolled off of her and pulled her into his sweaty chest.

"That was fucking amazing." Hermione said. Severus chuckled at her phrasing and was glad that he pleased his lover.

"Yes it was my love." He said before kissing her hand and leading them both into a deep slumber.

AU: Hey everybody, hope you enjoyed the smutty goodness. This was actually the first time I wrote a love scene, I might not have much experience in writing them, but I've read plenty of them to see how they go. I assume the sex is accurate, I don't know, I've never had sex. Updating is going to get harder now, I'm now back in collage and the course load is murder this year, I will do what I can though, take care. 


	10. Xmas Time Part 1

X-mas Time Part 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my original characters

To sweet-tang-honney: Thank you very much, I'm glad you like it

To sjrodgers108: Thank you I will update as much as I can

To georgia_ girl: I'm so sorry dear, it was not my intention to make you cry, it will work out

I swear. (By the way, I don't consider this a flame; I've received much worse ones before.)

To Heidi191976: I'm glad you like it, who doesn't like a little smut

To LK-HoGwArTs-hEaDgIrL: I'm happy to hear you love it

To loveismagic: I know, who wouldn't want him? Thanks I'm glad my first time writing

smut was successful.

Ever since that night a week ago in the room of requirement, Hermione had been positively giddy. As a fire danced in her eyes and a peaceful smile grazed her face, she noticed that Severus was in a much better mood. He would never be giddy of coarse because that just wasn't him, but he seemed to be much more relaxed and less grouchy around others.

What relieved Hermione the most was that their feelings were now out in the open and they no longer had to worry about how they felt about each other, not to mention worrying about a certain royal pain in the ass trying to keep them apart.

They had made love several more times since that night and each time seem to feel better then the last, however the challenge now was their brewing since she was still his apprentice. As much time as they had alone together in that steamy potions lab, it was a struggle to keep off of each other.

Hermione had just finished the latest batch of wolfsbane when she felt Severus wrap his arms around her from behind and gently kiss her neck.

"You are lucky I finished the potion at all Severus, I noticed those lusty looks you have been giving me all morning." Hermione said while leaning back into his embrace.

"I can't help it Hermione, I love being with you. You are the best medicine and you make me feel young again." Severus said after ceasing his kisses and just held her.

Hermione turned around to face her lover and gave him a stern look, one he rarely ever saw.

"Severus Snape how many times do I need to tell you? You are not old, believe me if you were old you couldn't do half the things we do in bed." Hermione said before kissing him.

"I'm just lucky you have become quite the tiger with a healthy sexual appetite."

Hermione smiled before pulling away and checking her watch, it was just a little after eleven. They had been brewing nonstop since seven that morning and Hermione was ready for a change of scenery.

"I have an idea, let's do something fun." She said while hanging up her lab coat.

"Okay what do you have in mind?" Severus said perversely hoping that was what she was thinking of.

"I know! Let's go ice skating. It's cold enough now that the lake would be frozen solid." She said.

Severus' face fell when he heard her idea, he was worried that there would be too many eyes watching them.

"Hermione I don't know if that's a good idea. What if we are seen together?"

"Oh Severus think about it. Almost everyone has gone home for Christmas and the castle is virtually empty, besides if we want our relationship to work, we need to spend some time together out in the open instead of just having sex all the time." She said.

Severus sighed, he knew she was right. He didn't want her to feel as though sex was all he wanted and he would do just about anything for her.

"Okay Hermione we can go ice skating but I'm afraid you will have to teach me." He said embarrassed.

"You don't know how to ice skate?" She asked

"No I don't, I never had a reason to learn."

"That's okay I can teach you, but if I do you must listen to my instructions, understand?"

"Yes my dear." He said before taking her hand and kissing it.

Once they bundled up so they were nice and warm, they took a shortcut from the dungeons that lead outside, never letting go of each other's hands the whole way.

Christmas was only a few days away, therefore winter had came full force and dumped at least two feet of snow onto the frozen wasteland. Just as Hermione predicted, the lake was frozen solid and there was no sign of the squid.

Hermione transfigured her snow boots into white ice skates and tread carefully onto the ice.

"Come on Severus, you can't learn standing on the earth." She said waiting for him.

Severus sighed and transfigured his snow boots into a pair of black ice skates. He was trying to figure out how he would get on the ice without killing himself until Hermione moved closer and extended her hand.

"Take my hand, I won't let you fall." She said while smiling.

"I highly doubt you could keep me from falling Hermione." Severus said before taking her hands and slowly moving one foot in front of the other.

"Severus you do realize that it is normal if you do fall the first time, it takes practice to get it right." She said, pulling back slightly so that he finally made it on the ice.

" Now, move one foot in front of the other slowly." She instructed.

They were out there for almost two hours when Severus finally got the hang of skating and had it down enough to do it himself.

He was astounded on how Hermione danced across the ice with such grace and expertise that he forgot to pay attention and almost crashed into a tree near the bank.

He enjoyed skating with her the most, holding her hands and body to him as they spun in a circle, laughing until dizzy. They had so much fun that afternoon that they were oblivious to the pair of twinkling blue eyes watching them from a tower window.

The next day Severus was sitting in his chambers when he remembered that Christmas was only a few days away and he still had no clue as to what to get Hermione. He loved the girl dearly but she was the hardest person to shop for.

"Think Severus think. Who would know what girls like for gifts." He asked himself before the answer smacked him in the face.

"Of course, why didn't I think of him before?" He asked himself before heading to his fireplace and flooing to Malfoy Manor.

Lucius was in his study, going over some business papers when Severus appeared through the fireplace, startling Lucius to the point where he almost fell out of his chair.

" Merlin Severus don't scare me like that, you could have at least sent an owl saying you were coming." Lucius said trying to control his rapid heartbeat.

"I apologize Lucius but I need to talk to Draco immediately, is he here?"

"Yes, yes he is in his room. Is anything wrong?" Lucius asked

"No nothing's wrong I just need his help with something, thanks Lucius and once again I'm sorry for scaring you." Severus said before leaving Lucius' study.

Severus made his way to Draco's room and knocked on is door.

"Come in." Severus heard Draco say from behind it.

Severus walked in and closed the door behind him before casting a muffalito charm on the room. Draco was laying on his bed reading when he saw Severus and immediately sat up.

"Severus what are you doing here?" Draco asked.

" I came to ask for your help Draco." Severus said.

Draco chuckled briefly. " You know I ought to start charging for my services since so many people want my help. I feel like a psychiatrist almost."

Severus raised his eyebrow "a what?" he asked Draco.

"Muggle mind doctor."

"Oh okay, I'm not even going to ask why you know that."

"I'd prefer you didn't, now what seems to be the problem." Draco said while beckoning Severus to sit down.

"Well Christmas is coming in a few days and I haven't the slightest clue as to what to get for Hermione. I love her and I know her very well but she is difficult to shop for."

"And so you want to know what to get her, well my friend you came to the right place. As you know I have been observing the both of you for a while now and I have picked up on some pretty interesting stuff."

"Like what?"

"Well did you know that Hermione is a distinguished piano player?" Draco asked

"No I didn't, I'm not surprised though. She is good at ice skating and I didn't know that either. "

"Severus it sounds like you don't know her as well as you thought."

Severus sighed, Draco was right. He had been so wrapped up in his physical love for Hermione that he didn't remotely know of what she was interested in, her favorite color, or her birthday for that matter, god he felt like a jackass right now.

"Merlin I'm a bad mate Draco, there is so much I don't know about her."

"Well I know a few things about her, ask me then ask the rest to her. I bet she is just as lost about you."

" Okay what's her favorite color?"

"Green"

"Really? I didn't expect that."

"Yes it is surprising but it is green."

" Favorite food?"

" Dark chocolate, must be a girl thing."

" Favorite flower?"

"A rose, you somehow already knew that."

"Favorite book?"

"Oh god Severus you're kidding? Well from what I've seen she enjoys this muggle novel called _Pride and Prejudice_, I've seen her read that half a dozen times, she also enjoys poetry."

"Hmm you have given me a lot to go on Draco thank you."

"You also can't go wrong with jewelry Severus, every girl likes something sparkly."

"I will remember that Draco. I had better be going but thanks again." Severus said before leaving.

"Oh you poor lovesick fool." Draco said smirking to himself.

Meanwhile at Hogsmeade Hermione was having a very similar conversation about her better half to Ginny.

"Gods Ginny I'm a terrible girlfriend, here it is a few days until Christmas and not only do I not know what to get Severus, but I haven't the slightest clue as to what he is interested in."

"Now Hermione calm down a minute, think about it, this relationship is in its very early stages now, despite the fact you two have had sex." Ginny said, involuntarily shivering at the thought and earning a glare from Hermione.

"Sorry, anyway what I'm saying is that now is the time to get to know one another better, find out things you didn't know before. Okay let's think, what do you already know about him now?" Ginny asked before taking a sip of her hot cocoa.

"Well I know his birthday is January 9th, he loves reading anything informative, is a fabulous cook." Hermione said causing Ginny's eyebrows to raise.

"Really? I can't see him cooking."

"Yea, he cooked dinner for us one night, I'm not that surprised though. You know how good he is with potions, cooking is practically the same thing except with food."

"True, what else?" Ginny asked.

"Let's see, he has great taste in wine, and obviously loves potions, that's about all I know."

"Well it's not a bad start, let's go into Flourish and Blotts and see if we can find anything that would spark his interest."

"Good idea." Hermione said, leaving a tip before heading to the door.

Today Hogsmeade was busier than normal, but that was no surprise considering Christmas would be here soon, everywhere there were parents with children and young couples carrying parcels. Flourish and Blotts was no exception either, it was busy but not uncomfortably so and books were still in good supply.

"How about this one?" Ginny asked holding a potions book.

"He already has it, in fact I think he has just about every potions and spell book in this place." Hermione said sighing.

"Hermione! It's so good to see one of my best customers, can I help you find anything?" Dr. Atticus Flourish asked her from around the corner. The short, stocky middle aged man never had trouble finding her in the store, good thing he was always civil and helpful otherwise she might have considered his behavior creepy.

"Hello Dr. Flourish, actually I'm looking for a Christmas gift for Professor Snape but he seems to have everything in this store that would spark his interest."

"Hmm" Dr. Flourish said while playing with his gray beard until an idea popped in his head.

"Maybe not everything, both of you come with me." He said to the girls as he led them to the back of the store. With his wand he tapped at two bookcases that were against a wall, they instantly parted revealing a hidden door.

"Now I'm going to ask that both of you keep this a secret, I'm only doing this because you Hermione are a favorite of mine as is Professor Snape." He said before opening the door and revealing a room that was lined from floor to ceiling with books.

"What is this?" Hermione asked in astonishment as Dr. Flourish closed the door.

"This here Hermione, Miss. Weasley is my privet collection that is why I'm asking you to keep this secret because it is not every day I sell someone something from here, I guarantee that Professor Snape will not have any titles in this room though.

Hermione wandered around the room glancing at different titles in amazement, some of these books were hundreds of years old and some she had to open and read since their titles were so old. They were in there for what seemed like hours until Hermione froze at a title she saw on the shelf.

_Raphael of Alabaster's potions journal _ were words that gleamed in gold lettering atop of wine colored leather. Hermione grabbed the book carefully and opened it. Inside the pages were yellowed with age but black cursive ink and drawings were clearly visible.

"Is this?" She began to ask.

"Ah yes, this here is one of the ten copies in existence of the potions journal of Raphael of Alabaster, the same potion's master that taught Merlin himself."

"How did you get this? I thought it was lost in time"

"No my dear, the ten copies were made from the original before the original disappeared."

Hermione knew that Severus would be ecstatic to have this, she knew it was made for him.

"How much?" She asked him

"Well this is a very rare book and it is very old and hard to come by. How about 10,000 galleons?" He asked. Hermione's heart fell into her stomach, as much as she wanted him to have it, there was no way she could afford it. With a sigh she put it back on the shelf.

"I know Severus would love it, but I just can't afford it." She said.

Dr. Flourish raised an eyebrow as to her use of the potions master's first name but chose to ignore it.

"How much do you have on you know Hermione?" He asked her.

"Well since he is that last I had to shop for, I'd say around 500 galleons."

"Tell you what, how about I take your 500 galleons and you work here at the shop for a year. That should pay it off." He said.

Hermione looked at him excitedly and fought hard not to cry.

"Do you mean it? That would be great! However the only days I could work are Sundays and Tuesdays since I have no classes that day. I'm working with Professor Snape on Saturdays for my potions apprenticeship and until Summer that is all I can work." She said cautiously.

"That's fine Hermione that should still add up to you paying off your debt. How about you work on Tuesday and Sunday here when classes resume from 9:00am until 3:00pm, I will notify Professor Dumbledore about this. Will this work?" He asked

"Yes but please don't tell Dumbledore that I was buying this for Professor Snape, it's just easier that way. She said.

"Fair enough, have a good evening Hermione." Dr. Flourish said to her after she paid him the money and left the shop with Ginny.

*************************************************************************************

Nickolas stroked the chest of his crane while putting the finishing touches on his gift to Hermione.

"Yes my pet I think she will find these lovely, she is just as beautiful as they are." He said before writing out his note to go with the gift.

Christmas morning finally came and brought more falling snow with it. Hermione stretched from her warm cocoon of blankets and pushed an irritable Crookshanks off of her stomach to see the presents she got at the end of her bed.

She walked over and began unwrapping each one. A book from Harry, a bag of sweets from Ron, some beauty trinkets from Ginny that Hermione loved, a Weasley jumper from Ron and Ginny's mother, some odd and ends from her parents, and a note from Severus.

Hermione quickly opened the letter, anxious to see what her lover wrote her.

_Dearest Hermione,_

_Meet me in my chambers after lunch today for your Christmas present, I really hope you will like it. _

_I love you, _

_Severus_

Hermione jumped excitedly at his letter, apparently they both had the same idea of wanting the other to see their gift opened in person. Hermione was cleaning the paper up as was about to get dressed when she noticed a long black box with a red ribbon wrapped around it.

Hermione was puzzled as to who it could be from since there was no note on the outside.

She slowly untied the ribbon and opened the box to see one of the most beautiful gifts she had ever seen. Twelve long stemmed red roses that were painted lightly in liquid gold lay in the box. She had never seen anything like it before, the gold was noticeable but not tacky in the slightest, in fact it made the red petals of each rose richer, and also around the stem she noticed on each one a satin black ribbon was tied into a bow.

She picked up one of the roses, it was slightly heavy due to the gold on it but was just as lovely and smelled just as sweet. She then noticed a note at the bottom of the box that was folded over.

She picked up the note and began to read.

_My dear you are as lovely as a flower, but these cannot compare to you beauty. A natural princess such as yourself has no competitor._

She recognized the aristocratic scrawl immediately and started to shake in fear.

She dropped the rose she was holding to the floor and let out a terrified scream before dropping the note and backing away from the box as if it might hex her.

Harry, Ron, and Ginny heard her screaming and burst into the room to see Hermione against the wall in fear, staring at a box on her bed.

"Mione what is wrong?" Harry asked her, trying to pull her out of her fear.

"Nickolas…" was all Hermione said while pointing to the box.

Ron went over to the box and read the note after looking at the roses carefully. Ron turned three shades of red in anger before crumpling the note in one hand.

"I'm going to kill that fucker if it's the last thing I do." Ron said

Harry and Ginny took turns reading the note and both agreed to Ron's statement.

"What part of leave you alone doesn't he understand?" Ginny asked, pacing back and forth.

"I think we really need to go to Professor Dumbledore about this." Harry said.

"What good will it do Harry? He didn't threaten me or anything in his note, and despite the fact that Dumbledore has been upset at the events surrounding Nickolas I'm not so sure any good will come out of it." Hermione said before starting to cry.

"I'm going to end up like Parvati I just know it, and nobody can help me."

Harry, Ron, and Ginny came over to her and all three enveloped her in a hug as she continued to cry helplessly.

"We won't let that happen Hermione, we promise." Ron said.

"Yea, he tried anything we will turn him into a snack for the giant squid." Harry said.

Severus noticed that Hermione wasn't at breakfast nor did she come to lunch, not only was that out of the ordinary for her but he couldn't shake this feeling that something was not quite right, his suspicions were confirmed when Hermione joined him in his chambers that day.

As much as she tried to cover up the fact that she was upset, the sparkle that was in her eyes when she was happy was not present and tear stains marked her skin.

Severus immediately walked over to her and enveloped her in his arms and noticed that she immediately wrapped her arms around him and clung to him like she was dying, whatever had upset her was bad.

"You've been crying" He said while holding her face in his hands and staring into her sad eyes.

"Goodness Hermione whatever is the matter my love?" He asked her as she was fighting back another wave of tears.

She led him over to his couch and proceeded to tell him what had happened that morning, the whole time Severus was getting madder with each passing minute.

"How dare that son of a bitch, I'll kill him." Severus said angrily before Hermione placed her hand over his.

"I'm afraid you will have to get in line Severus, Harry, Ron, and Ginny also said the same thing." Hermione said trying to lighten the moment.

"Yeah well I'm your mate and that automatically give me first dibs." He said before kissing her and embracing her tightly.

"I will never let him hurt you my love. I would die before that would ever happen, you Hermione are my world. I know we may have not been together long but it feels like a lifetime to me and you can't possibly understand how much you mean to me." He said

"I feel the same way Severus, I love you so much, and I feel incomplete without you." She said before kissing him tenderly.

"Turn around" he whispered to her, earning him a questioning look.

"Just do it, turn around and close your eyes." He said

"Okay" she said before doing just that.

She felt him move her hair aside and something slip around her neck and settle itself around her.

"Open your eyes." He whispered in her ear.

She did and looked down to see the most beautiful pendent she ever saw lying against her neck. An emerald surrounded by rubies hung by a gold chain, in the firelight the stones seemed to glow and glitter like the stars in the sky.

Hermione turned back around to Severus and kissed him passionately, feeling her mood brighten considerably.

"Oh Severus it's beautiful, but you didn't have to get me this."

"Nonsense you silly girl, you are my lady and if I want to shower my lady in jewels then I shall, besides that isn't all." Severus said before handing her a green box.

"How did you know my favorite color was green?" she asked him

"Uh lucky guess?"He asked unintentionally, earning a look from Hermione.

"Alright, alright I went to Draco and he told me."

"Draco?" Hermione questioned

"Yes, you know how he has decided to observe us all year? Well he has found out some things about us as individuals such as your favorite color being green. I went to him because I didn't know what to get you and in turn found out that I didn't know as much about you as I thought." He finished looking slightly sad.

"Severus it's okay really, I don't know a whole lot about you either but we can learn. Sure we may have jumped the gun sexually but that doesn't mean anything."

"Tell you what why don't we learn about each other after we open our gifts okay?" He asked

"Sure, I will open this now." She said.

She opened the box to find black leather bound book inside, there was no title and nothing on the cover. She opened the inside cover to see Severus' handwriting.

_Severus Snape's Poetry Journal_

_1973-1979_

She flipped through the book to see many poems written by Severus, she stopped to read a few and was amazed at how good they were.

"I didn't know you were a poet." She said

"I didn't know you liked poetry" He retorted

"Severus these are beautiful, I would have never expected this." She said

"Look on the last page." He said

Hermione turned to the last page to see that it was dated last night and that a new poem was there too. She looked down at it and began to read.

_Our Love_

_Our love is such a simple thing._

_A happy smile, a tender kiss._

_But just to know that you are mine_

_Makes my heart glad-makes my heart sing._

_It sings of happy times we've spent_

_In small cafes, 'mid country scenes._

_And times we've watched the sun come up;_

_Small things that make our life content._

_Our life is one eternal spring._

_Each day our love is born anew;_

_We're happy just to be alive._

_Our love is such a simple thing._

At the bottom of the poem there was a note written just for Hermione.

_Hermione, this poem barely explains my love for you, but you are my life, my love. I hope we can share these simple things together for the rest of our lives._

Hermione looked at him astounded, not noticing the tears falling freely from her eyes.

"Severus I love you and yes I want to cherish these things for the rest of our lives too." She said before kissing him tenderly.

Authors note: Whew! A monster of a chapter, I wanted to continue it but it was getting too long so I'm breaking it up into 2 parts.

The poem Our Love was written by John J. Bridson. I'm out of practice when it comes to writing poetry so this would have to do. I love you all


	11. Xmas Time Part 2 & Caught!

X-mas Time Part 2 & Caught!

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my original characters

To sweet-tang-honney: Thank you very much, I'm glad you loved it

To LK-HoGwArTs-hEaDgIrL: Thank you very much, I'm so happy you enjoy it so

To Heidi191976: More will come soon, probably after midterms I'm afraid, ugh

Hermione still embraced Severus with all she had after a few moments, the necklace and his own poetry journal were the best gifts she ever received, the journal especially was so personal and spoke volumes of what kind of person he was and despite the abuse she knew he received from the marauders back in school and the cold exterior he presented, he still had enough feeling in him to write melodies of love, passion, and beauty.

"Severus this is the best Christmas gift ever, I can't wait to read your work." Hermione said excitedly.

"Ah soon you will be able to my little book worm." Severus said before chuckling.

Hermione reached around and grabbed a black box with a silver ribbon on it and handed it to Severus.

"Be careful with it Severus, it is very fragile."

Severus raised an eyebrow but took her seriously as he carefully opened the box and unwrapped the tissue paper around the book.

Severus wasn't sure what the book was at first but he could tell it was something special judging by the worn binding, the faded title, and the smell of ancient parchment.

Once Severus opened it and began reading it a little bit, his eyes widened in astonishment at what he was holding in his hands.

"This is a joke isn't it? This can't be one of the ten copies of the journal of Raphael." Severus said still in shock.

"Believe it Severus, it's no joke, it is real. I knew it was meant for you when I saw it."

Severus still didn't anything after that and just stared down at the book, Hermione was beginning to worry that maybe she went too far when Severus sat the book down on the table and took a hold of her and passionately kissed her.

Out of all the kisses they had shared with one another this one was the most intoxicating. Love from both parties pulled from each other as well as hot breaths and slight perspiration from their bodies. When they finally pulled away from each other Severus leaned his forehead against hers and stared into her eyes.

"I cannot explain how I feel that you gave me something as incredible as this and especially since it came from you makes it even better. It's not just a potions book Hermione, it also is a symbol of what you are willing to do for me to make me happy and that my love is the reason why I love you so."

"Believe me I will do anything to see you happy Severus, you have been to hell and back many times and you deserve nothing but happiness."

"Well with you always by my side love, I will forever be happy." Severus said before kissing her again and pulling away.

"So do you want to tell me how you got something like this?" He asked

Hermione bit her lip, he wanted to know but at the same time she was afraid that he would be upset at the fact that she would be working off her debt.

"Well Severus this came from Dr. Atticus Flourish's privet collection and I gave him what money I had left and for the next year I will be paying of my debt by working in the shop."

Severus didn't look mad like she had thought but he didn't seem happy either.

"Oh Hermione…"

"Now Severus don't say it, I wanted to get you something really special and if I have to do a little extra work to pay off my debt then so be it, besides it's not that bad, until school is over I work over at the bookshop on Tuesdays and Sundays from 9:00am until 3:00pm and then when school is through I work every day from 9 to 5 until my debt is paid off."

"I still don't like the fact that your working to pay off something you got for me Hermione."

"Well that's too bad Severus because I love you and I want to make you happy and if I need to do a little extra then I will." Hermione said, clearly ending the conversation.

Severus took her in his arms and reclined back on the couch, pulling her on top of him and taking a whiff of her cinnamon and vanilla hair before kissing the top of her head.

"If you want to know more about me I suggest you start asking before I fall asleep." Severus said.

"Okay Severus, we will play 20 questions. I will ask you something and then you will ask me something and we continue this until we both hit 20, got it?"

"Crystal my dear."

"Good okay, what is your favorite color? No that's stupid; it's obvious it's black."

"Actually its silver."

"Really? Well how come you wear black all the time then?"

"Well if I wore silver robes instead of black I would look like that pansy Gilderoy Lockheart."

Hermione laughed at this, trying to picture the un flattering image before snuggling in his chest.

"Okay my dear your turn. Why in the hell are you friends with Potter and Weasley? You could do so much better than them."

Hermione glared at him slightly before smiling at him.

"They might not be the smartest guys in the world but they are very loyal and very sweet to me and will do everything in their power to protect me."

"Basically they are golden retrievers in human form." Severus chuckled.

"SEVERUS!" Hermione yelled

"What? Oh come on you can't tell me you never once thought that they acted like dogs around you."

"Actually no but I guess they do now that I think about it."

"Ha!"

"Okay, what is your favorite thing to do besides potions?"

"Make love to you."

"Severus be serious." Hermione laughed

"I am being serious but I also enjoy reading, writing poetry, and now ice skating thanks to you." Severus said before kissing the top of her head.

"What about you?" He asked.

"Well I enjoy playing the piano, ice skating, dancing, brewing potions, reading and spending time with you."

"Only spending time?"

"Severus what has gotten into you? Your mind is knee deep in the gutter today."

"I'm sorry Hermione, I'm just happy to have you as my girl; I don't feel like I deserve you. You should be with someone who isn't tainted and dark like me, someone who you could publicly be with and spend your life with."

Hermione looked up at him as though he said the stupidest thing but she knew really this was how he felt.

"You know, I never realized how insecure you are Severus." She said

Severus got a little red with irritation and was about to speak when he was halted by Hermione.

"Let me explain, you go on all the time about how I should be with someone more deserving, someone who is more in the spotlight than you are. Severus did you ever stop to consider that maybe I don't want anyone like that?" She paused gauging his reaction.

Severus just looked at her waiting for her to continue but she could see the slight hint of happiness glowing in his eyes.

"Severus you are all I want, nobody can be more perfect for me than you are. The supposed darkness you have complements my supposed light, your intelligent beyond belief, you protect me from anything that could hurt me, and most importantly you love me more than anyone else ever did, so how could you even think that I would want anything different?"

Severus' eyes were misty, now he really did feel silly about being so insecure; he pulled her closer to him and hugged her as he rested his head on top of hers.

"I'm sorry Hermione, your right I am insecure, I just keep thinking that one day you will wise up and leave me for a guy who is more handsome or rich."

"Severus, I don't need money, I'm just as happy without it as with it and to me you are the most handsome man I had ever seen, you are hansom in a nontraditional since and as long as I have a breath in my body or until you tire of me, I will never leave you."

"Well then my dear be prepared to spend a very long time with me because I will never tire of you." He said before kissing her.

"Ask me something else." She said

"Okay, what is your ring size?" He asked her

Hermione looked at him funny trying to decipher as to why he would ask that.

"What kind of question is that?" She asked

"Well I already know your shoe size, and now your bra size." He said with a wink.

"I figure I might as well know your ring size too."

"Okay, my ring size is 6."

"Hmm, from what I gather your small all over."

"Hey!"

"But I would not have you any other way, I love your small delicate feet." Severus said before stroking her foot with his.

"And I love how perfect your small breasts feel in my hands." He said before taking her breasts in his hands and rubbed her nipples outside of her clothing, and being rewarded with a breathy moan."

Your hands are small and ladylike, just perfect to intertwine into mine." He said as he removed one had from her breast but still kept the other in place and locked his fingers with hers.

"Now my dear it is your turn to ask a question."

"Severus will you make love to me, right now?" Hermione asked, feeling her arousal seep from in between her legs as he continued to rub her clothed sensitive nipple.

"As if you had to ask." Severus said before reaching up and pulling her down for an intense kiss. Hermione thought kissing Severus could always be enough to make her cum if they did it enough, as Severus' hot slippery tongue invaded her mouth Hermione found herself straddling his hips and feeling his very prominent arousal poking her core, causing her to shiver.

Severus felt the need to make his hands work, so as he raped her mouth with an intensity to make her moan, he snapped button after button until her shirt slid off and revealed a green and sliver lacy bra with a tag that had the name Victoria's Secret on it and this particular bra he noticed gave Hermione a very deep and rounded cleavage, he made a mental note to find this Victoria and thank her for her secret.

As Severus attacked her neck where his necklace rested, she proceeded to rub herself against his large clothed erection, desperately seeking the friction she desired and eliciting a moan from him as well as herself. Hermione followed Severus' lead and quickly unbuttoned his shirt and stroked his chiseled chest with the lightest of touches.

Severus began to meet Hermione's thrusts as she began to move faster on him, if they were going to make it to sex Severus knew they had to stop now. Severus reluctantly pulled his mouth away from her neck as he tried to find his voice again.

"Hermione… if we do-n't stop now I'm... going to cum." He choked out.

Hermione stopped grinding herself on him and looked down at him lustfully, noting the throb from in between her legs had intensified.

"Then maybe we should continue this in the bedroom." Hermione said before giving him a searing kiss as if he needed any more motivation.

Severus picked her up in one foul swoop and proceeded to make it to the bedroom as quickly as possible, desperate to get his increasingly uncomfortable pants off and free his erection.

Severus closed the door with his foot and placed Hermione on her back on the bed before shrugging off his unbuttoned shirt. Hermione reached up and unfastened his belt and unzipped his pants, finally freeing his painful member.

Severus was glad that they had quit for a moment because now he was not as tempted to cum as he once was. After Hermione pulled his pants down and he stepped out of them he made quick work of her pants and to reveal that her barely their underwear matched her bra.

Severus was about to push her back when Hermione stood up and made him sit on his bed. He saw the naughtiness in her eyes and wondered what she was planning on doing.

Slowly Hermione got down on her knees in front of Severus and faced his large member with excitement. With one hand she took a hold of it by the base before looking up at him to see his shocked expression as to what she was about to do.

Before Severus could say anything to her, her wet mouth went around the head of his cock and began to lick him as if her were a lollipop. Severus closed his eyes and threw his head back at the sensation she was giving him. He never asked her to do this to him and was happy to find that her virgin mouth was very talented.

Slowly she began to take him in her mouth inch by inch until she could not take him in anymore, of what remained she wrapped her hand around and began to stroke him as she licked and sucked him.

Severus was gasping like a fish out of water, he had forgotten what it felt like to have his cocked sucked and now knew that no time before could compare to this. He tangled his hands into her curly hair and she began to fuck him with her mouth, causing him to moan harder and harder as he gave into temptation and started thrusting into her mouth.

Hermione was doing her best not to gag, he was big but what he was doing wasn't exactly unpleasant. Severus squeezed his eyes closed as he came into her mouth with a powerful force. Once he withdrew she was able to swallow down the salty liquid and lick her lips wantonly.

"Girl you're going to be the death of me." He said before kissing her and tasting his own essence on her mouth and not really repulsed by it.

He pushed her on her back and took a hold of her panties by the sides and slid them down her body and discarded them to the floor. As he unsnapped her bra with one hand he inserted two fingers into her sopping wet heat, he knew she was ready for him and no preparation would be needed this time.

As he bent his head down to one nipple and lapped at it he thrust into her hard, causing her to arch her back and gasp at the sudden invasion.

He was hell bent on giving her pleasure like he never had before, as he sucked on her nipple and tweaked the other he thrust rapidly in and out of her, making her give louder and louder moans with each movement. Severus pulled and yanked on her sensitive nipples with wild abandonment as he thrusted harder and she met him with her thrusts.

He knew she was close to cumming but he was not about to let her do that without trying something new first.

With all the force he could muster he took a hold of her hips and rolled them over to where she was on top of him, straddling his waist and looking down into his lust filled eyes with her own.

"Ride me bad girl." He said before smacking her ass lightly, giving a jerk on him and a moan in response. She lifted herself off of him and slammed back down with such force, he had to control himself from cumming then, he couldn't do that now because he wanted her to practice this new technique.

Hermione quickly caught on and began to continue this process with faster and faster precision, Severus took a hold of her hips and threw his head back in ecstasy as he felt himself hit a sweet spot inside her and heard her yell in pleasure. Faster and faster her movements became until he felt it, he looked up at her to see her come undone in front of his eyes, she clenched her eyes shut and threw her head back as she slammed on him one last time and came all over his cock, with her flushed cheeks, heaving breasts and hearing her scream his name, he never thought anything could be so beautiful.

As if right on cue after her orgasm hit her he felt his beginning to take over. He dug his nails into her hips and screamed as his seed shot into her hard, causing him to shutter until he was empty. Hermione hunched over in exhaustion as she tried to catch her breath, sweat rolling off of her body and onto his soaked one. With a sated smile she pulled off of him and curled up into his chest as they cooled down.

"I swear it get better every time we do it." Hermione said.

Severus chuckled and kissed her forehead while stroking her hair.

"I love you." He said

"I love you too." She said before kissing him.

Suddenly their world of sexual bliss was interrupted when they heard a knock on his bedroom door, causing them both to freeze in place.

"Severus are you in there? I need to speak with you immediately." Dumbledore said outside the door.

"Shit." Severus whispered as he got up and handed Hermione a random bunch of clothing and pushed her towards the closet before pulling on his pants.

"What is it old man?" Severus asked crossly as he opened the door.

Dumbledore walked in uninvited, making Severus a little more nervous than before even though he didn't show it.

"You didn't answer me old man, what is it do you want?" Severus asked before crossing his arms over his chest impatiently.

"I will tell you but first I think it would be more appropriate if everyone joined us." Dumbledore said making Severus pale.

"You can come out Miss Granger I know you in here." Dumbledore said.

A few moments later Hermione stepped out of the closet in Severus' buttoned shirt that fortunately for her came down almost to her knees and her underwear, looking down the whole time in embarrassment.

"In all my years at Hogwarts I don't think I have ever seen two people act more irresponsibly. Come out into the living room, both of you, we have much to discuss." Dumbledore said sternly.

Hermione took Severus' hand worriedly as she looked at him before heading into his living room, knowing what they were about to hear would not be pleasant.

AN: Yes I know I'm cruel but hey it was a lemon and who doesn't like a slice of lemon pie? In case you haven't guessed yet this story is starting to wind down and after at least a year of it being made, it will be finished in a few chapters, it's so hard to believe I know. Anyway as always reviews are loved as much as the people who read them, take care


	12. The Plan

The Plan

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my original characters

To SS-RL-LOVER4LIFE : Thank you, these last few chapters I hope will be amazing too

To SeverusSnapeIsMineAlways : I don't think I have ever read a review that made me more happy than this one, things like this make me love writing fanfiction, thank you so much. By the way I love your user name.

To Heidi191976 : Or coarse they will still be together, I'm not that much of a heartless bitch haha, but you will just have to see what unfolds

To LK-HoGwArTs-hEaDgIrL : Thank you, I'm glad you liked it

To planetmarz : let's just say that what he wants from them changes everything, hopefully you won't be dead by the time this is up 

To sjrodgers108 : I'm glad you love it my faithful follower, I also thank you for sticking by me in Set in Stone, I swear it will get better this is just a difficult plot line to work with, it hasn't been turning out like I thought and I can work with it, it just will be slower than what I thought. As for this story thank you for your review

To sweet-tang-honney : Thank you I'm glad you did

To GreenEyedRedHead1994 : Sorry I'm just now responding to chapter ten for you. I think Draco would make a good psychologist if he pulled his head out of his ass haha, but yea I thought that idea was cute, after all who would be better to go to than a ladies' man? As for Nicky I know everyone hates him, myself included but you might just be surprised with him in the end let's just say.

Severus and Hermione followed Dumbledore into Severus' living room, never once letting go of each other's hands. As they inched closer and closer to the sofa, the dread that they felt gained intensely. Hermione sat down on the sofa, tucking her legs underneath her, Severus sat next to her and took her hand in his again and gave it a gentle squeeze, trying to calm her despite that he was just as worried.

Dumbledore faced the fireplace not wanting to face the couple yet until he gathered his thoughts. He turned around and his no longer twinkling eyes gazed at the couple as they kept their heads down in silence.

"How long has this been going on?" Dumbledore asked

Hermione tried to speak but found that her voice chose to fail her in that particular moment, thus leaving Severus to speak for both of them.

"We have been dating for several months now but we became intimate just recently."

"I see." Dumbledore said before turning his attention to Hermione.

"Miss Granger did Severus in any way force himself on you?" Dumbledore asked

Hermione looked up at him in shock and outrage and willed herself not to scream at him.

"No! He never forced himself on me, everything we have done has been consensual." She said.

"I see." Dumbledore repeated.

"Severus you realize that I should report this to the board of governors and have you fired right?"

Severus bowed his head and closed his eyes.

"Yes Headmaster you should"

"And you Miss Granger, I should have you expelled and sent on the train back home." Dumbledore said.

"I know sir." Hermione said while Severus' horror stricken face looked up at Dumbledore.

"Please Headmaster, if you must punish us then get rid of me but please let her stay here. I could not bear the thought that her education suffered because of me." Severus said.

"Severus no." Hermione said but Severus stopped her.

"Hermione you have your whole life ahead of you, and many dreams that need you to graduate from here, I will not let my love for you get in the way of that. I love you too much." Severus said whispering the last part.

"Severus are you through?" Dumbledore asked, looking slightly amused

Severus sat there looking at him astounded, not know how to respond to his comment.

" I had been considering throwing you both out because of this affair. Severus in all the years I had known you the only woman I thought you could ever love was Lilly, but it seems as though I was wrong and now that I look at it, you both seem pretty perfect for one another, therefore just because I said I should does not mean I would." Dumbledore said, slightly smiling.

Severus and Hermione sat there shocked at Dumbledore's understanding, each of them feeling as though relief washed itself through them.

"Professor Dumbledore, exactly what are you saying?" Hermione asked.

"I'm saying Miss Granger that I will allow you both to continue seeing each other in secret only if you, Hermione will do a favor for me."

"What is it?" Hermione asked while brightly smiling.

Dumbledore sighed heavily before rubbing the bags under his eyes, clearly showing how tired he was and how serious this particular matter was. Severus took notice of this and put an arm around Hermione protectively, whatever he would ask her to do would not be pleasant.

"Some of the other order members and I have had a long talk and we have come up with a plan as to what to do about Nickolas."

Hermione paled at hearing his name, thinking wherever this was going was going to be bad.

"Headmaster, if I may be so bold, why have you kept the murderous bastard in the castle in the first place?" Severus asked.

Dumbledore looked over at Severus, frowning at how crudely Severus' language was but then again he expected no less from the dark man.

"At first I believed his parents that he needed protection from Voldemort and in a way I think they were genuine but I noticed later on his behavior was questionable and then Miss Patil's murder happened and it confirmed my suspicions."  
"What are they old man?" Severus asked getting a little annoyed

"They did bring him here for protection only because Voldemort has taken refuge in his castle and his parents are at his mercy."

Both Hermione and Severus were surprised and not so at the same time, they both had suspicions but as to what they were unsure.

"There is more, I'm sure Mr. Malfoy informed you of the mission Nickolas was sent here for."

They both nodded and Severus gripped his arm tighter around Hermione.

"When Nickolas singled you out Hermione, he told his parents about you and they reluctantly told Voldemort. Apparently Voldemort was quite excited that you would be the girl he picked because not only would the child of your union be extremely powerful, but this was an opportunity to get closer to Harry as well when the time came."

Hermione gulped at this and as Severus noticed her distress he quickly got agitated.

"Stop stalling old man, what is this plan you and the order have come up with, without my knowledge?" Severus asked clearly annoyed at the last part.

Hermione gently put her hand on Severus' leg and squeezed it while giving him a stern look.

"This plan I honestly wish I didn't need to ask of you Miss Granger but this is the best we can come up with. Miss Patil's death has affected me greatly because it is essentially my fault she is dead. The only reason I kept him here in the castle was to see if I could somehow get to Voldemort through him but he was locked tight on that. This is the only way I can attempt to repent for what I have done."

Dumbledore saw that Severus was about to yell at him to go on so he quickly spoke again.

"Miss Granger what we ask you to do is to make Nickolas think that he is getting what he

needs. Since he somehow found out about yours and Severus' relationship, pretend that you and Severus are no more and go to him ."

Severus lost it then, he stood up and got mere inches from Dumbledore and was visibly shaking with rage and trying hard not to punch him in the face.

"I'm only going to say this once old man so listen close. I love Hermione and while you may be willing to subject her to the hands of this disgusting excuse of a man, I am not. I would rather die than have him lay a hand on her."

Dumbledore smiled softly, humbled at Severus' devotion to Hermione and his will to protect her.

Hermione stood up and took Severus' hand, causing him to ease slightly and look at her but was still visibly tense.

"Severus please, let him finish what he has to say before passing any judgment." Hermione said, leading him back to the couch.

He sat down softly next to Hermione and pulled her into a small kiss before allowing Dumbledore to continue.

"As I was saying, make him think you are falling for him and when the time comes for him to propose, accept it willingly. However I suspect the ring he has with him is charmed to keep you under his control so as soon as you are away from him, bring the ring to Severus so he can search it for dark magic and destroy it and Minerva will make you an exact copy, so it would appear you would have his ring but without the charm on it.

When the time comes for you to "marry" him the wedding will take place at his palace. The guests you invite, along with Severus in disguise and the order as well, will come with you. We have reason to believe that Voldemort and the other Death Eaters will be there in polyjuice potion. At the altar you will make an attempt to back out of this at the last minute, thus angering Voldemort enough to come out of hiding and when he realizes the order is there and he has been tricked, the battle will begin. Harry will kill Voldemort and the ministry will round up the Death Eaters."

"And how can you be so sure Headmaster that Nickolas will not try to touch Hermione in the process."

Dumbledore was about to answer but Hermione turned and did it for him.

"He won't touch me because he believe me to still be a virgin." Hermione said while blushing.

"In order for the child I'm supposed to have to be as powerful as Voldemort imagines it to be, it would have to be conceived in a virgin womb and the hymnal blood could be saved for a dark potion."

"Exactly Miss Granger." Dumbledore said

"So I highly doubt Nickolas will try to sleep with me Severus, don't worry."

Severus crossed his arms and frowned, still not liking this one bit.

"And how are you so damn sure about all this? I don't see how you can be so calm." Severus said, lashing out at Hermione.

Hermione looked hurt but refused to back down from this.

"I'm thinking with a clear head that is why I'm calm Severus. He can't touch me until the wedding night or else Voldemort's idea will be ruined. As far as I can see it, this sounds like the only plan that will draw out Voldemort and that's what we need." Hermione said, then she turned to Dumbledore with a new look of determination.

"I'll do it." She said

"Like hell you will, I don't want you near that bastard!" Severus yelled

"Don't you yell at me Severus Snape!" Hermione yelled back

"ENOUGH" Dumbledore yelled silencing the both of them.

"Miss Granger I'm glad we have your cooperation. We will begin this tomorrow night since it is so late now. I suggest you both get some rest." Dumbledore said before leaving.

"Hermione you are not going to do this, I don't want you hurt and that's what is going to happen if you do this." Severus said angrily but not like he was a moment ago.

"Severus I'm not some weak little flower that needs protection all the time, I thought you understood that. I'm doing this because Harry has a good chance of killing Voldemort with this plan. I won't get hurt and I won't really be married to him."

Severus just huffed at this and looked away from her, making her come to a realization.

"Your jealous aren't you? Your jealous because I must act like I'm with him. God Severus how can you be so immature?" She asked

Severus rounded on her in a rage and grabbed the tops of her arms.

"Immature? You think that's what this is about? Yes I'm jealous, thinking about him touching you makes me angry. You are mine you hear me, YOU ARE MINE!" He yelled.

Hermione cringed and jerked away from him, glaring at him with tears in her eyes.

"You listen to me Severus Snape. I don't belong to anyone, I'm not an item someone can own. I'm a woman who has a free will and I'm using my free will to go with this plan, so whether or not you like it I'm doing it then that's final." Hermione said.

Severus stormed back into his bedroom and slammed the door, making Hermione flinch.

He came back out a few minutes later fully dressed and looking at her coldly.

"I'm going for a walk, when I get back I expect you to be back in your dorm _Miss Granger_" Severus said before leaving his chambers.

Hermione stood there for what seemed like forever just staring at the door, crying silently. It was hard to believe that only a few hours before they were making love and were the happiest they had ever been.

Hermione pulled off his shirt and fingered the necklace around her neck he gave her.

It suddenly felt so wrong to wear it and with a quick movement, she ripped the chain off her neck and placed the necklace on top of his shirt on the bed. She pulled on her cloths and walked back to her dorm room, crying the whole way there.

When she came in she saw Ginny sitting on her bed looking sad like she was.

Ginny got up and put her arms around her soothingly until Hermione was able to calm down.

"I take it Professor Snape didn't like the idea?" She asked

Hermione looked up at her friend in surprise and was about to ask but Ginny beat her to it.

"A few hours ago Dumbledore got me, Harry, and Ron and told us of this plan the order has. Ron and Harry were furious as was I but when he explained that no harm would come to you and that Harry would finally be able to kill you know who we reluctantly went along with it." Ginny said.

Hermione sighed and sat on her bed and wiped away her remaining tears and told her what happened when Dumbledore came to see them.

"I understand how he is feeling Hermione, granted he may be a little possessive of you but he is also very protective of you and from what you have told me he sounds like he loves you very dearly. For once I can't blame him for feeling this way, this is dangerous and if something goes wrong you could get hurt or killed."

"I know Ginny, I just wish he could see what this would do in the long run."

"Give him some time Hermione, maybe all he needs is to cool off." Ginny said.

The next night came rather quickly and Hermione was preparing herself for what she was about to do. She thought about the night before and that caused her to cry along with the fact that she had not seen him all day. But she would use this to her advantage, her crying and mussed up hair would contribute to her acting skills and hopefully fool Nickolas.

She had sat outside his room waiting for him for almost an hour when he finally rounded the corner there and saw her crying. He immediately ran to her and place a couscous hand on her shoulder.

"Hermione, what is the matter?" He asked her.

Hermione looked up into those ice blue eyes she had come to hate, but kept up her acting for the sake of the order.

"He dumped me, he told me he didn't love me anymore and he dumped me." She said

Nickolas had a pained expression on his face and he gathered her in his arms and held her.

Hermione smelled the amber and sandalwood cologne he wore and while she did think it smelled really good, it was nothing compared to Severus' natural scent of herbs.

"He was never good enough for you Hermione, that cold, greasy git will never be good enough. You deserve so much better princess." He said soothingly.

"I'm just glad I didn't sleep with him, he wanted me too but I told him no." Hermione said only to make him not question her.

"So your still a virgin?" He asked, slightly blushing

"Yes I am, thank goodness." She said

Nickolas stood up and pulled Hermione with him and he held her tight and kissed her forehead gently.

"Thank you for the roses Nickolas, they were really beautiful, I've never seen anything like them before."

He looked down at her and smiled handsomely.

"I asked my mother to deliver them to me from the royal gardens at home. The elves painted them with gold before they came. It not only preserves the flowers so they last for a long time but they make them shimmer with the rich color."

Hermione smiled and looked up at him, she had forgotten how hansom he really was despite that he was a dangerous smooth talker.

"I would have given you something Nickolas but I had forgotten, I'm sorry."

"There is no need to apologize to me Hermione, your opinion of me thanks to him was distorted and I'm hoping it has changed?" He asked looking hopeful

"_Not as much as you would like to think you bastard._" She thought.

"Yes it has changed, I don't know what I was thinking." Hermione said.

Nickolas hesitated a moment before speaking once more.

"Hermione… can I kiss you? I've thought about nothing else since I've seen you."

Hermione smiled at him and nodded "_for the order, for the order, for the order."_ She mentally chanted.

Nickolas leaned forward and gently tangled his fingers in her curls, he looked at her mere inches from her mouth and stared into her eyes with blazing passion.

His lush mouth finally met hers ever so gently and Hermione thought she might want to vomit but as he pressed further and deepened the kiss little by little so as to no scare her, she found her body betraying her and kissed him back as a tingling sensation moved through her.

_Damn he's a good kisser though_" She thought as she absent-mindedly wrapped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes.

He moaned into her mouth slightly as he felt her around his neck. Without warning he slipped his tongue in her mouth and began to explore.

Hermione was brought back to reality and pulled away from him, breathing hard.

"I'm sorry if I went to fast for you. I understand that you might not want to do this now since you are just out of a relationship." He said, while breathing equally hard.

"Thank you for understanding Nickolas. It's very late though and I must be getting back to my dorm." She said

"May I accompany you there?" He asked

Hermione nodded and took the arm he was offering, never realizing that Severus was watching around the corner the whole time in sheer horror.

Hermione ran upstairs to her room, by passing Ginny, who was waiting for her and ran to the bathroom, bent over the toilet and vomited. Ginny immediately ran over to her friend's aide and pulled her hair back for her until she was empty.

After flushing, brushing, and gargling the taste out she went back to her room and sat down, crying into her hands.

"What happened Hermione?" She asked

"God that man is so repulsive, he's the devil himself. He's great to look at on the service but you can just feel the evil oozing out of him." Hermione said

"What did he do?" Ginny asked more concerned than before.

"He kissed me." She said

"WHAT?!"

" I had to go along with it Ginny, I had no choice. The one thing I'm disgusted by the most was that my body was betraying me, and for a while I was actually enjoying it! When he put his tongue in my mouth was when I was brought back though."

"Oh Hermione I'm so sorry, that must have been awful."

"Yes it was, but I will somehow have to cope with that happening more often if I'm to keep this up. I'm just glad Severus didn't see this or else it would kill him, it's bad enough I haven't seen him today. I feel like such a slut." Hermione said crying once more.

Ginny said nothing as she held Hermione close, wishing somehow that this could be easier on her friend.

AN: Love me, hate me, say what you want about me but it had to happen. At least she isn't falling for his charms right? Coming up, more deceit, smut, and romance. Love you all


	13. Discoveries and Proposals

Discoveries and Proposals

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my original characters

To 16TwilightMyLife: Thank you, I'm glad you enjoy it

To sweet-tang-honney: Thank you, I'm glad you like my story so much

To Libbindy Luthien : Oh I know it's torture, I'm sorry but I've had a little trouble forming this chapter this time, I hope it's okay.

To sjrodgers108: More is coming your way, I hope you like it

To SS-RL-LOVER4LIFE: I'm happy to know you love it

To GreenEyedRedHead1994: They aren't broken up again, just having a little lovers spat. Haha where do think I got the idea for Nickolas in the first place? Yea the bible can be very inspirational in more ways than one.

To LK-HoGwArTs-hEaDgIrL: Thank you very much

Hermione wished that Severus would talk to her, ever since their argument the other night he had been reclusive, but she now wondered if there was more to it then what she was seeing.

It seemed as though he was doing everything in his power to avoid her at all costs. At meals he didn't show and the few times he did, he acted as though she didn't exist. He had not called on her for more brewing even though she knew there was most likely more to be done, and when he would see her in the hallway he would immediately turn another direction.

To make matters worse was the fact that Nickolas almost became her constant companion. He was courting her with an elegance and charm she never knew he had, they would take walks around the lake, he would join her in the library while she was studying just reading a book while she worked, and sometimes they would meet in the room of requirement and have dinner and talk. What surprised her most was how much of a gentleman he was being, he had never done more with her than kiss her and he never pushed her into doing anything she didn't want to. She was getting to know this man quite well and would go as far as to say that if he wasn't such a horrible bastard, he would make a good boyfriend.

For now Hermione was in her room and relishing the alone time she was having and was trying to write a potions essay but the mere thought of it made her think back to Severus.

He must have seen her with him or something that was the only reason she could think of as to why he would behave this way. Hermione sighed and closed her book in frustration and buried her face in her hands.

"Oh Crookshanks, when did my life turn into a muggle soap opera?" She asked her furry friend, whom just looked at her clueless.

She had to figure something out and quickly, students would be returning in a few days and term would begin again and once that happened he would not be able to ignore her nor would she be able to ignore the criticism she would get for "dating" Nickolas.

Sure enough when the students came back it was pure hell for Hermione, they found out that Hermione was seeing Nickolas and she endured endless torment because of it. Many called her a traitor and a gold digger; she had even been called stupid for once in her life and that one in particular hurt most of all. The lashing that she got from Lavender and Padma however was one she would never forget.

They had stopped her in the hallway and asked if it was true, when she confirmed it Lavender slapped her so hard that she was thrown into the wall behind her and Padma called her everything in the book from a bitch to a mudblood whore. Hermione normally would have fought back but this time she just didn't have the will to do so, she knew what this man was like and what this appeared to be for everyone else so she thought she disserved it.

With a heavy heart one night she made her way to Severus' potion lab, whether or not he would welcome her she wasn't sure but she was hell bent on doing her work no matter what he said to the matter. She opened the door and sure enough he was standing there stirring a cauldron, oblivious to the fact that she came in.

Hermione took out her supplies at a nearby table and began mixing up some sleeping potion, something she knew he always was in need of, and didn't bother looking in his direction.

"What are you doing here?" He asked in an emotionless voice

"What do you think I'm doing here Severus? I still have an apprenticeship to work with." She said.

"Well with the events as of late you might want to rethink your apprenticeship."

"What is that supposed to mean Severus?" Hermione asked getting angry.

"It means that I have no time for assistants who care more about becoming the next member of the royal family than wanting to seriously become a potions mistress."

"Severus we have been through this many times before, I don't want to be with him and I don't want to marry him. You are the only one I want to be with, why can't you understand that?"

He turned around then and faced her angrily with his knuckles turning white.

"Why can't you see this through my perspective Miss Granger? Do you know what it is like for me to stand here and watch you be with him? Holding him? Kissing him? I'm dying inside and do you even care? I doubt it."

"Dammit Severus I'm doing this for the order, for the big picture. Harry has a very good chance at fighting Voldemort if this plan works and all you can think about is yourself and how jealous you are over something so ridiculous."

"So how I feel is ridiculous then huh? Get out!" He yelled back at her.

"NO!" She yelled back

"You are such a piece of work Hermione. And to think I considered being in love with you, what the hell was I thinking?" He asked.

This broke Hermione completely, weeks of torment from the others and now these hurtful words from the man she loved was all too much for her. She felt hot tears forming in her eyes and tried to hold them back. She looked back up at Severus with such pain and sadness that he started to feel guilty quickly for what he said.

"Do you really enjoy hurting me this much Severus? Does it make you feel better? It's bad enough I must endure hell from everyone else and even physical violence." Hermione said brushing back her hair to reveal the purple bruise across her cheek, which made Severus gasp.

"I'm not doing this because I want to, hell every time he kisses me I feel as though I want to vomit; I don't enjoy being with him Severus!" Hermione yelled visibly crying now.

Severus felt terrible now, he wanted to say something but he couldn't find the words to say anything and instead just looked at her.

"Your right I'm some piece of work, I'm more than that, I'm a stuck up whore who just wants to do something right for everyone and instead I fuck everything up." Hermione said retreating to the back of the lab and wrapped her arms around herself while continuing to cry.

Severus came up behind her and held her to his chest as she continued to sob. His heart was breaking at how much pain his lover was in and at the fact that he caused some of that pain just now.

"I'm sorry Hermione; I should have never said that. You are most definitely not a whore. I just get so mad seeing you both together when I know your mine." Severus said suddenly remembering the last argument he had about his possessiveness.

Hermione turned around and faced him in his arms, her crying had slowed down but tears were still rolling down her cheeks. Severus took his thumb and wiped away her tears and was careful not to touch her bruise.

"Who did this to you?" He asked angrily.

"Lavender Brown did. She asked me if I was seeing Nickolas and I told her I was, she slapped me across the face and my head went into the wall as Padma screamed horrible words at me."

Severus bent down and kissed it gently while stroking her hair, trying as best as he could to sooth her.

"I will definitely be giving Miss Brown detention for this, no matter how horrible she thinks your decisions are she has no right to hit you."

She looked up at him once more and while the pain in her eyes vanished a little bit, it was still clearly there, ripping at his heart.

"Severus I'm tired of this." She said

Severus paled; surely she wasn't talking about them, was she?

"Tired of what Hermione?"

"The way we fight, I can't take it anymore Severus. We fight, we break up we get back together again and make up and it is a vicious cycle. It's too taxing on my emotions, so I need for us to make a decision." She said seriously

"What?" He barely choked out.

"Either we break up for good or we work harder to make us work, and when we fight we talk to one another instead of storming off and ignoring each other. I can't handle anymore, so I need to know what you want to do." She said.

Severus' mouth had gone dry and his heart began to race with panic, he loved this woman more than anything but to be faced with an ultimatum like this was almost too much.

"Hermione, I love you and I will follow you to the ends of the earth. I haven't loved anyone since Lilly then you came into my life and brought me happiness and sunlight whether I wanted it or not. I don't deserve you plain and simple; I know you hate it when I say this but it is true. You are such a good person Hermione and you deserve so much better than me. But I am a selfish man and nothing can change that, when I say that you are mine I mean it. Not in a way that you belong to me, but you're the only one I want and most likely will be to my dying day."

Severus paused to see tears in her eyes once more but these were clearly tears of happiness instead of sorrow.

"I want us to work Hermione; you are still all I think about. When I wake in the morning I can't wait to see your beautiful face, when I am grading papers you dance through my mind to where I'm distracted, when I sleep at night it kills me your not there next to me, and if I let you go it will be the worst mistake I could possibly make."

Hermione hugged him tighter and listened to his steady heartbeat. He wanted them to work and was willing to do whatever it took to do so. She looked back up at him and gave him the biggest smile she could conjure up.

"That's good Severus because I have no intention of letting you go I love you, you complete me like nobody else can." She said before placing a tender kiss on his lips.

"I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make you happy Hermione and I'm going to start right now by saying I'm sorry for being so cold and cruel. I can't keep using my lack of experience with women as an excuse, this has just been my defense mechanism for so long and I will try harder Hermione I promise."

"I need to say I'm sorry too Severus, I'm sorry that you have to see me with Nickolas, I do care about how you feel and it kills me knowing this is hurting you so badly. Despite how he may be, he cannot compare to you. His rich cologne just makes me long for your natural herbal scent. His kiss only makes me wish it was you claiming my lips instead of his, they way he holds me just doesn't feel right, it doesn't feel like you."

Severus was choked up but happy all the same, not to mention her comparisons were great for his ego.

"Well then my dear, allow me to give you what you wish." He said before bending down and lovingly kiss her mouth. His arm gripped her waist tighter while his other went around her back to tangle his fingers in her silky curls.

Hermione moaned in his mouth as she wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss gratefully. She was so happy to be finally kissing the man she longed for after these several weeks of hurt.

Severus walked her back over to the lab table so that her bum was pressing against it. Hermione began to turn the kiss up a notch by opening her mouth and maneuvering her tongue inside his mouth. Severus growled at the contact their hot, slippery muscles made and with one arm he swiped everything that was on the lab table to the floor. He then picked her up while not breaking their kiss and placed her on the table.

Hermione instinctively leaned back onto it and pulled him with her so that he was on top of her.

"Severus, all I have been able to think about is you these lonely weeks. Make love to me please, I need to feel you inside me and my skin against yours." She whispered.

Severus smiled down at her lovely form, the reasons why he loved her so much continued to grow with each passing minute.

"As you wish my lovely." Severus said before unbuttoning the shirt she wore.

"You better have some news for me boy and it better be good." Voldemort hissed through the communication sphere, clearly pissed off that he had to put up with such incompetence.

"As a matter of fact my lord I do, she as finally given into my charm and I am now successfully courting her." Nickolas said proudly.

"Excellent, it's about bloody time too. Is she far in enough for you to ask her to marry you?"

"That my lord I'm not so sure about, she has just recently come to me and I fear it maybe too soon still, I don't want to push her away." Nickolas said.

Voldemort sighed deeply, trying to control the anger building up in his system as he rubbed his temples fiercely.

"You realize this is taking a lot longer than I originally planned Nickolas?"

"Yes my lord, I apologize for this. She has not been easy to snare."

"Indeed, but I expected no less of the mudblood. Alright since you managed to secure her into courting you, I will give you until the end of April to propose to her and for your sake she better say yes." Voldemort said before his image vanished from the sphere.

"Merlin I hate that man!" Nickolas yelled before sitting in his chair.

Something was happening to him and he didn't know what. In the beginning he singled Hermione out because she was a good candidate and the dark lord approved of her, but as of late since he had been getting to know her more, feelings inside of him stirred that he didn't know he had. He began to miss her when she wasn't around, he found himself enthralled in what she had to say, even if it was a theory for her potions essay he still found it interesting knowing that it came from her mouth. He also began to fantasize what it would be like with her without Voldemort's influence hanging over their heads.

She would be a perfect princess who would be faithful and caring and would perhaps even love him. She would be a wonderful mother to the sons and daughters they would have and when he would take the crown as king she would be the loveliest queen this world ever knew.

Suddenly it hit him hard what was happening to him. As much joy this feeling made him feel he wished he would not have it still. As long as Voldemort was around and keeping him at his mercy he could not afford to feel so wonderfully.

He cursed himself then, for being a prince, for Voldemort taking over his kingdom, for doing the damn task he was assigned to take and he cursed himself most of all for genuinely falling in love with Hermione.

Hermione sighed happily at the fact she had missed this. Severus' naked body was behind her as he held her in a sitting position and was kissing her neck and shoulders lovingly.

"I always wanted to do that you know." Hermione said.

"Make love on a lab table? You're so kinky love." Severus chuckled before focusing back on his task.

"That's not the only place I thought of." Hermione said wickedly.

Severus raised an eyebrow and smiled naughtily at her, who knew his love was such a sex kitten.

"Where else?" He asked.

"Well, your desk in the classroom, one of the student tables, your personal stores, one of the broom closets…"

"Damn Hermione, you will have to stop listing, I'm getting hard again." He said as she felt proof poking into her backside.

"As much as I like the sound of that Severus I don't think I could go again for a while now. You must have had built up frustration in you or something because you were quite the animal, I'm exhausted." Hermione said, leaning back into him more.

"That is what you do to me love, only you." He whispered before kissing her cheek and standing up once more and was getting redressed.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Well we have sleeping draught to make, as well as wolfsbane and skelgrow. As much as I would love to do nothing but make love to you all day, these need to get done." He said, offering his hand to help her down.

"You're such a workaholic Severus." Hermione teased while getting dressed.

Winter melted into spring and life for Hermione was getting better and better. She and Severus had been really working hard on their relationship and it was beginning to pay off, they felt closer to one another than ever and now that they talked when they argued, fighting with each other happened less and less.

Education wise Hermione was happy about too, Dumbledore had approached her weeks before and said that since her grades were so high she qualified to take her N.E.W.T.S early if she wanted. She was nervous about this at first but Severus said that she should not only because she would do well on them now but also she wouldn't have to take classes anymore and she could dive head on into her apprenticeship.

So after thinking about it for quite a while Hermione decided that she would take them early and start her adult life. The only thing was that now she had to wait a week so the ministry could go through her records for any evidence of cheating and draw up the paperwork.

Things with Nickolas were going smoothly as well but this worried her a little bit. He seemed to have changed from the charming asshole she first met, into a respectable, nice young man but she could not tell if this was an act or not. She had seen that he looked at her differently now, much like a lover would and when the subject of the up in coming war came up between them he always got this nervous and pained expression, especially when he realized she would probably fight too.

This particular morning however was far from great, Hermione had felt sick since the moment she woke up and at last count she had visited the bathroom three times to vomit.

Ginny was there with her and ran a cool cloth over her forehead as a queasy looking Hermione tried hard to relax.

"Oh dear Hermione, how did you get so sick so quickly?" Ginny asked.

"I don't know Gin; it must be the stomach flu or something. I'm hungry but I don't think I could keep anything down."

"Hopefully it will go away soon; you got to be in tip top shape for your N.E.W.T.S after all."

"Yes I know, but if this is the stomach flu I have gotten a symptom I never had before."

"What is it?" Ginny asked.

"For the past several days my breasts have been very tender, even the lightest touches hurt. I don't know why they are either, Severus doesn't bite them, he licks them." Hermione said.

"Ewww Hermione I could have lived without that mental picture you know." Ginny said, shaking her head furiously, trying to rid her brain of the image.

"Sorry Gin."

Just then a thought came to Ginny's mind as to what might be wrong and for Hermione's sake she hoped she was wrong.

"Hermione, you and Severus are sexually active right?"

"Yes Gin we are but I thought you didn't want any more mental pictures." Hermione teased.

"Have you both been using protection?" She asked, ignoring Hermione's playfulness.

Hermione paled instantly, she knew the first time they had sex she had taken a potion but as she thought back to the past several times they had sex, she realized she didn't take a potion or use a spell.

"Oh god Ginny." Hermione said panicking

"Calm down Hermione it won't do you any good to panic."

"The first time we slept together I took a potion but these last several times I haven't done anything, I can't believe I forgot I'm so stupid!" Hermione yelled holding her head in her hands.

"Hold on Hermione, you don't know for sure. We better go visit Madam Promfrey and she will be able to tell you." Ginny said helping Hermione out of bed so she could change.

The walk to the hospital wing felt longer than normal, Hermione's mind was kicking into overtime now with this new information.

"_Pregnant? Am I really pregnant? And if I am it is Severus' baby. How will he react if I am? I know how he feels about kids. Will he want me to get rid of it? Will he want to get rid of me?"_

Hermione asked herself this and worry was hitting her hard, soon enough they made it to the hospital wing and came inside.

"Can I help you girls?" Madam Promfrey asked.

"I need to take a pregnancy test Madam Promfrey." Hermione said, looking down at her feet in embarrassment.

"Come to this bed child and lay down, pull up your shirt so your belly is exposed." She said.

Hermione did this and Ginny took her hand, trying to calm Hermione as best as she could.

Madam Promfrey took out her wand and the tip started to glow green.

"This test is 99% accurate and if you are indeed pregnant it will tell the sex of the baby as well."

"So soon?" Hermione asked

"Yes, this test can do that." Madam Promfrey said while drawing a plus sign and a minus sign in the air above Hermione's belly.

"If you are pregnant the plus sign will light up and if it is a girl it will light up pink, if it is a boy it will light up blue. Are you ready?" She asked.

Hermione nodded and tried to get a hold of her breathing.

Madam Promfrey placed the warm tip of her wand to Hermione's belly and began to trace patterns with it.

After a few minutes the plus sign slowly lit up a brilliant blue color, and Hermione wanted to cry.

"Well child you are pregnant and it looks like it will be a boy. Does the father know you were coming here?" She asked.

"No he doesn't know." She said while getting up from the bed shakily and was standing with Ginny's help.

Madam Promfrey told her to go back to her room since it was a Saturday and to drink the potions for nausea as soon as she got there.

Once in her room, Hermione broke down and Ginny hugged her tightly.

"Ginny what do I do? I didn't want to be a mother this young. I'm so scared as to what Severus will tell me. He hates children and I imagine he will want me to get rid of it or he might get rid of me." Hermione said hysterically.

"Hermione if Snape loves you as much as you say he does then he will help you through this and I'm here, and when you eventually tell Harry and Ron they will be too."

"I hope so Gin." Hermione said.

That evening Hermione couldn't sleep so she decided to take a late night walk around the castle, and since she was head girl she wouldn't get in trouble. Her mind kept going back to that morning and how Severus would react. She decided that instead of a walk a good thinking would probably be better and so she headed up to her favorite thinking place, the astronomy tower.

She opened the door after climbing the stairs and was surprised to see Nickolas in his red velvet night robe, looking out into the clear night sky.

Nickolas turned to her and gave her a sweet smile, he seemed happier just because she was there.

"Couldn't sleep Hermione?" He asked her

"No I couldn't, I see you couldn't either." She said while going over to him and standing beside him to look outside at the starry sky and the full moon.

"I have a lot on my mind right now."

She turned to him and looked at his face; he seemed to not have had very many restful nights anymore as circles began to appear under his ice blue eyes.

"Would you like to talk about it?" She asked

He turned to her then and took her warm hand in his and gave it a squeeze.

"Yes as a matter of fact I would Hermione."

He turned to her so that he was facing her fully then and he tucked a loose curl behind her ear and stroked her cheek.

"Hermione I have never known someone like you, someone so pure and beautiful not to mention kind hearted and compassionate like you are. I come to realize over these past several months that it was a blessing to be able to court you and I now know that without you in my life, everything else seems meaningless."

Hermione was shocked that he was pouring his heart out to her this way; she became shocked even more when he got down on one knee in front of her, not letting go of her hand.

"Hermione, words can't describe how I feel when you are around me and I now know what I feel for you is love. I love you Hermione and with that being said." Nickolas paused to pull the blue velvet ring box from his pocket and popped open the lid. Inside was a beautiful gold ring with a large pink diamond in the center and little red rubies surrounding it. The way it sparkled in the moonlight made Hermione gasp at its beauty.

"Hermione Granger, would you do me the honor of making you my wife?" He asked.

Hermione knew she had to say yes for the sake of the plan but she couldn't help but notice how he seemed for once to not be faking it, even though her brain was partially telling her not to fall for it.

"Yes" She said with a smile, causing him to smile back.

He took out the ring and before placing it on her finger he looked up at her with a sad expression as if this was torture for him.

"Forgive me." He said before placing the ring on her finger, causing her to scream as the spell was activated.

He stood up just as her eyes refocused on him and instantly she smiled while taking his hand.

"I love you Nickolas."

"I love you Hermione." He said before kissing her lips in a heated kiss.

AN: Yea I know, the beauty of mind control. It looks bad now but the next chapter is more happy. Just don't send flaming pitchforks my way. Take care.


	14. Surprises of Many

Surprises of Many

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my original characters.

To sweet-tang-honney: thanks, I'm glad you like it

To EllieMay Duncan: thanks, I update as much as possible

To LK-HoGwArTs-hEaDgIrL: Thank you

To sjrodgers: I'm glad you like it, I'm glad you liked my one shot as well

To Libbindy Luthien: I'm glad I was able to clear up your confusion; this chapter will be very amusing.

Harry and Ron came down stairs the next morning to see a very unusual sight.

Hermione was in one of the chairs, still in her night clothes with a book in her lap but instead of looking at the book she was staring out into space with stars in her eyes and a big grin painted on her face.

"Um, Hermione are you okay?" Ron asked sitting down on the couch next to her chair.

It was as if she didn't even know he was there, for she continued to stare at the wall as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.

"Hello! Earth to Mione." Harry said, waving a hand in front of her face, snapping her out of her trance.

"Oh, how long have you two been there?" She asked them, still smiling.

"Just a few minutes, I think we should be asking you the same thing." Ron said.

"Well what time is it now?"

"Around 8am, have you been down here all night Hermione? You're not even dressed." Harry asked.

"Huh, I guess I have. I didn't sleep last night and I feel great anyway. Life couldn't be more perfect." She said.

Harry and Ron looked at one another confused at their friend's strange behavior before deciding to question her.

"What had gotten you in such a good mood?" Harry asked.

Instead of speaking her reply, Hermione lifted her left hand and showed her engagement ring to the boys, the pink diamond glittering brilliantly in the firelight to match her dazzling eyes.

"I went to the astronomy tower last night to think and I ran into Nickolas. He asked me to marry him and I said yes! Oh boys I'm so excited I love him so much, I can't wait to be known as Mrs. Nickolas Dorcas Grey, Princess of the Wizarding World." She said, giddy with excitement.

Harry and Ron were both immediately alarmed by her change in attitude about the wicked prince and remembered that Dumbledore had told them that she might go under mind control when wearing his ring and to bring her to Snape as soon as possible.

"It's such a nice day Mione, why don't we go for a walk." Harry said standing next to her and Ron on the other side.

"No thank you boys, I would rather sit here and daydream of my new life that is coming."

"Oh but Hermione we insist, you have been here in this stuffy common room for too long now, you could use some fresh air." Ron said taking a hold of her arm and walking out of the room forcefully.

"Let go of me Ronald, I said I didn't want to go for a walk." Hermione said, trying to jerk loose.

"Well sorry Hermione, but this is for your own good." Harry said, taking a hold of her other arm and walking towards the dungeons.

"Get off of me now!" She yelled, jerking free only to have Ron pick her up and throw her over his shoulder before she could escape.

Severus was working on his lesson plans when he heard yelling of a female coming down the stairs and heading for his classroom. He got up and opened his door to see Potter and Weasley coming down the stairs with Weasley carrying a kicking and yelling Hermione.

"Potter! What is the meaning of this?" Severus asked.

"Were just doing what we were told to do Professor Snape." Harry said, walking into the classroom followed by Ron.

Severus shut the door right before Hermione gave Ron a swift kick in the stomach, causing him to fall down with her while a coughing fit started.

Hermione made it out of his grasp only to be held onto by Severus, making her struggle once more.

"Miss. Granger calm down this instant!" Severus yelled.

"It won't do any good to yell at her Snape, she is under mind control because of her ring." Harry said, helping a sputtering Ron off of the floor.

Severus looked down at his love's hands to see the glittery gold ring with the large rock sparkling on her finger.

"I see, boys hold her down while I remove the ring." Severus said.

"NO! It is my ring! The man I love gave it to me!" She screamed while Ron and Harry took both of her arms and pinned her down.

Severus winced at her calling that evil bastard her love but he chose to ignore it as it grabbed her wrist and placed his fingers around the cursed object.

Severus winced at the pain he felt going up his arm in electric shocks and the screams coming from Hermione as he was attempting to remove the ring. Blue sparks shot out from the band and the stone that went into Severus' body as well as hers and he was doing his damn near best not to pass out from the pain.

With one hard jerk he pulled the ring off of her finger and threw it against the wall before attempting to control his breathing. He looked over to see that Hermione was doing the same as a scorch mark appeared where the band was.

"Boys… get Professor McGonagall now… tell her it's urgent but nothing more." Severus said, breathing hard.

Harry and Ron nodded and gently released their hold on her before leaving the dungeons quickly.

Severus crawled over to Hermione and picked her up in his arms and stroked her hair. She looked up at him weakly, her eyes returning to the normal blissful brown she had when she was with him.

"Se-Severus I'm sorry…"

"Shh love don't talk right now, that damn piece of jewelry took a lot of energy out of you. I'm just glad you're alright." He said, talking a hold of her left hand and kissing the scorch mark.

"I love you… only you." She said weakly.

"And I you darling." He said, picking her up and carrying her to his chambers and laying her down on his bed. Before she fell asleep he administered a strengthening draught to her so that when she awoke again she would feel almost normal.

"Severus." Dumbledore called from his classroom.

He sighed and made his way out to see Dumbledore, Minerva, Harry and Ron all giving him worried looks.

"Where is she Severus?" Minerva asked.

"I have taken the liberty of allowing her to rest in my chambers for now until she gets her strength back. That object took a lot out of the both of us; I'm surprised I'm still standing." He said, noticing now that the pads of his fingers were burned from where he grabbed the ring.

"Wouldn't it have been better to take her to the hospital wing?" Ron asked him suspiciously.

"Mr. Weasley, use that tiny organ in your head you call a brain for once. The hospital wing is four floors up, why bring her all the way there when it is more convenient for her to stay here since I have all the necessary potions she would need."

Ron was about to retort angrily but was stopped when Dumbledore interrupted him.

"Have you analyzed the ring yet Severus?"

"I haven't had the chance yet Headmaster, I shall do it now." He said taking hold of his wand and making the ring float in front of all of them.

"This piece of jewelry is laced with dark magic alright, centuries worth I'd say. Miss. Granger and I were lucky that we were not killed. From the looks of it not only does it hold dark magic but a very powerful mind control charm as well. This thing has so much negative energy attached to it that it is unstable and dangerous." Severus said, analyzing it.

"Is that why the sparks came from it when you tried to remove it?" Harry asked.

"Precisely Mr. Potter, it is so unstable that touching this object will cause it to react and potentially kill the target."

"Why then would Nickolas not be affected? I saw him this morning and his hands appeared normal." Minerva asked.

"There could be one of two explanations to this. He was wearing protective charms that would repel the dark magic from touching him or else he put the mind control curse on the ring himself, thus becoming the master of this object and it would not hurt him. My guess is the later of the two and that she had the reaction when he first put it on her."

"Can you destroy it Severus?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes I can but I must do it away from Hogwarts, it is too dangerous for me to destroy it with so many people around. Minerva I suggest you create a copy of this ring now so I can destroy it as soon as possible."

"Of course Severus." Minerva said, pulling a marble out of her pocket and set to work on making an exact replica.

It took around ten minutes but Minerva created a very convincing copy that was accurate down to the last detail, Nickolas would never be able to tell the difference.

"I will go and take care of this retched object. Minerva I ask that you stay with Miss. Granger until I return. Potter and Weasley, return to your dormitories at once." Severus said, putting on his traveling cloke.

"Where will you go Severus?" Dumbledore asked.

"I'm not sure Albus, somewhere where there is no civilization around most likely I'm not sure when I will return but if I'm not back in three days, come looking for me." Severus said, taking his broom out of the closet.

"Be careful Professor." Harry said.

Severus gave a surprised look at the boy in front of him, true they never got along but he never expected Potter to be concerned about his return.

"I will do my best Potter, thank you." Severus said before leaving his classroom and the shocked faces of everyone there.

Two days later Severus returned in bad shape, how he was able to fly back to Hogwarts in his condition he was not sure but he was pretty convinced the end was near when he touched down roughly out by Hagrid's hut and was not able to get up.

If not for the half giant himself, Severus would probably have been dead at this moment instead of lying weakly in a hospital bed with numerous potions running through his bloodstream. He had burn marks on much of his already scared body as well as a minor concussion and a few broken ribs and a wrist from being thrown back into a boulder.

He had also lost a decent amount of blood and he was thankful that he carried with him some blood replenishing potions which was enough to keep him alive for his trip back home.

He had awoken several hours later to see Hermione curled up in a chair uncomfortably beside his bed. His heart swelled with happiness when he saw her beautiful face there, waiting for him to awaken. He realized just how close he came to not returning to her, if he had not brought some potions with him or had Hagrid not found him, he would not be here now.

Hermione sensed that she was being watched when her eyes fluttered open to meet the obsidian eyes of her lover. She smiled happily at him and gently took his bandaged hand in hers.

"You gave me quite a scare you know, I had woken up to find that you were gone and that I might not have seen you again. I wish you had came back and told me goodbye once more before leaving." She said.

"You were sleeping peacefully angel, I didn't want to disturb you since your energy was zapped from you."

"I'm just glad you came back to me, I need you around Severus, now more than ever." She said seriously.

Severus raised an eyebrow at her tone and wondered what she meant by that.

"Hermione what exactly do you mean by that?" He asked her.

Hermione swallowed the lump forming in her throat. She desperately needed to tell him about her pregnancy but she was afraid that it would do more harm than good now since he was injured.

"Never mind, I'm just being silly. How are you feeling?" She asked, changing the subject.

Severus sighed, he knew something was up but he decided that he would ask her about it later, right now he was in a little pain and needed to see Madam Promfry.

"I'm sore love but glad to be alive. Would you go and get that insufferable woman for me so she can shove more potions down my throat?" He asked bitterly.

"Yes Severus I will, I will be right back. I love you." She whispered before giving him a peck on the lips and leaving his bed and him with a smile.

Severus was feeling pretty good later on that evening, despite the fact that he was told he would probably be in the hospital wing for a week so all the burns could heal properly. However his good mood was ruined when a certain unwelcome guest decided to grace Severus with his presence.

Nickolas stood by his bed with a smug smile across his face as he watched Severus glair back at him.

"What do you want?" Severus said, annoyed at the interruption from one of his favorite books by this ass.

"I just wanted to see how our favorite potion's master was doing. That was quite a nasty potions accident you had, what went wrong?" Nickolas asked in mock concern.

Severus was thankful that Albus could come up with a believable lie so quickly. While he hated the fact that this lie was slandering his "perfect potions master" title, he knew it was best for everyone if he played along.

"If you must know it was very late when I was working and due to my tiredness I miscounted the amount of lacewing flies I had and thus made the mixture unstable."

Nickolas looked at him like he pitied him causing Severus to scowl, he detested being pitied with a passion.

"That's too bad Severus, well at least you will make a full recovery. I suppose you heard the news that you're ex girlfriend and I are getting married." Nickolas smiled devilishly.

"_Should have known this was why he came to see me."_ Severus thought.

"So what you came here to gloat? Well you're wasting your time and mine, I broke it off with her for a reason you know. If you can put up with that insufferable know-it-all then more power to you." Severus said turning back to his book, clearly dismissing Nickolas.

Nickolas scowled at the man in front of him but he refused to let him have the last word.

"Goodness Severus you make her sound so terrible, but I have been spending a lot of time with her and she truly is a lovely, charming girl. I can't wait to make her my wife, I can only imagine what kind of lover she will be." Nickolas said, hitting below the belt.

Severus gripped his book as his nostrils flared, he tried to remain calm but the image of Nickolas rutting on top of Hermione made him want to break the prince's pretty nose.

"I don't really care Nickolas, my time with her is over. No doubt she will be a horrible lover, just thinking about it makes me sick." He said, wounding his heart in the process.

"Well it's your loss then, I best be off now and find my little sky lark. Have fun with your books old man." Nickolas said, laughing as he walked out the door.

Severus threw his book down on the bed, something he never did and held his head in his hands, trying to control his temper. The only thing that made him feel sick was having to say all those horrible things about Hermione. This would be just another thing to add on his personal list of things he must forgive himself for.

Severus couldn't have been happier being back in his own room and his own bed.

He reached over into his side table drawer and rummaged around for a bit until he found what he was looking for.

That night at Christmas he asked Hermione what her ring size was for a reason, they may not have been together for very long but he knew that if he had to go one day without her in his life, it would drive him to madness.

He pulled out a dark green velvet ring box and stared at the jewel that lay within. While this ring was not as fancy and large as Nickolas' was, it was a Prince family heirloom given to him by his mother with the promise that he would give it to the girl he loved most one day. After being alone in his solitude all these years he thought he would never find the girl he was to give it to.

Then Hermione came into his life and turned everything he held dear around for him. His dark, moody days were almost nonexistent now and for the first time in his life he was actually looking forward to his future.

The ring itself was quite simple but it was very elegant looking. The band was of goblin made silver and it held a pure teardrop shaped diamond with tiny emeralds clustered on each side. In a way this piece of jewelry reminded him so much of Hermione, she was simple and far from plain, and she carried a natural grace with her she most likely wasn't even aware of, yes it was indeed perfect and he planned on giving it to her tonight that was why he called for her to come have dinner with him this evening by the lake.

He wanted tonight to be perfect, he packed a picnic basket with fresh bread, cheese, grapes and sparkling white wine. The moon would hang high and the sky would be clear enough to see every star visible from Earth. The night creatures would serenade them with their own music as they would relax and hold each other.

It was getting close to 8pm and Severus was pacing back and forth nervously with all sorts of irrational thoughts plaguing his brain.

"_What if she says no? What if she hates the ring? Oh Merlin what if she realizes that I'm not worthy of her?"_ Severus thought before stopping abruptly and controlling his breathing.

"Severus old boy you're being ridiculous, how many times has she told you she loves you already?" He asked himself.

"You can do this, she's the best thing that has ever happened to you and tonight you are going to offer her everything you have." He said, taking hold of a blue silk ribbon and tying his hair back with it. He wanted to be sure she could see the sincerity in his eyes when he would get down on one knee.

At exactly 8pm he heard a knock at his door and he knew it was her. Taking a deep breath he opened the door only to have his breath taken from him as he stared at the gorgeous beauty outside his door.

She wore a black halter dress that went to her knees and hugged her body in all the right places. Her silver ballet flats were adorable and comfortable looking and complemented her dress nicely. Her hair was styled into a wild, tousled look which Severus loved on her. It reminded him of how she looked after they finished making love and her hair was splayed on his pillow. The only makeup she wore was some charcoal eye shadow to give her eyes a smoky effect and illuminate her chocolate pools even more.

"Dear god Hermione, you are breathtaking, I feel as though I should bow to you."

"Oh Severus stop, you're over dramatic." Hermione said while coming inside.

"Like hell I do, you are always so beautiful to me." Severus said while taking her in his arms and then giving her a gentle kiss.

"My aren't we Mr. Romance tonight?" She teased.

"Well tonight is a very special night my dear and I will explain why once we get down by the lake." Severus said while picking up the picnic basket.

They made the short walk down to the lake hand in hand, Hermione feeling quite content while Severus put on a calm act when really he was a nervous wreck on the inside.

The air was warm and comfortable and the sky was so clear that it opened up the rest of the universe before them. The crickets and frogs were out and singing their happy tunes as a gentle breeze that soon promised summer made its way through the trees.

Severus laid out the picnic blanket and brought out the food. Hermione sat down and her mouth watered at the delicious display before her. When she saw the wine however it reminded her of what she had to tell him and how it could potentially ruin the evening.

Severus sat down next to her and opened the bottle and poured them both a glass of the sweet smelling alcohol. He handed her a glass and smiled only to look at her curiously a few moments later when she transfigured her wine into water.

"Why did you do that love?" He asked her.

Hermione sighed and was fighting back the lump gathering in her throat, now was the time for her to inform him.

"Severus, I went to Madam Promfry the other day because I thought I had a case of the stomach flu. I was puking my guts out and was very ill at the time, but when she checked me out I didn't have the stomach flu after all but rather another condition." Hermione said.

Severus looked at her worriedly, could she have been really ill and he didn't know it?

"Go on." He said, taking a sip of wine.

"Severus… the reason why I was sick is because I'm pregnant." She said, finally getting the weight off of her chest.

To say Severus was stunned was putting it mildly, he dropped his wine glass to the ground as his eyes became wide with shock and he tried to find the words to say.

"_Pregnant? She's pregnant? And with my child?" _He asked himself.

"You're serious?" He asked her.

Hermione had her head down and was fighting the urge to cry but was failing as she began to shake with upcoming tears.

"Yes I'm serious, I'm pregnant with our child Severus, our son." She said.

Severus' brain finally kicked in with his body as he picked her up in his arms and swung them around, laughing the entire time and completely happy.

He set her down and kissed her with such passion that she almost lost her balance but was held up by his strong arms.

"Our son? My child? We are going to have a baby?" He asked in disbelief.

"Yes Severus we are going to have a little boy, I hope you're not mad about it." She said.

"Mad? Oh Hermione I could never be mad about this, in fact I don't think I've ever been happier."

"But I thought you hated children?"

"I don't hate children, I hate preteens and teenagers but I can imagine I will love our son when he becomes that age. Hermione I secretly always wanted a family of my own, a wife and children to make up for the horrible childhood I had but I never thought I would be given the chance to have this with my history and all. When you came into my life Hermione you gave me hope that once again I would be able to have these things, I was just waiting for the right person to spend the rest of my life with and I've finally found her." He said.

"What are you saying Severus?" She asked in shock, thinking she had an idea where this was going but wasn't entirely positive.

Severus got down on one knee and took her left hand gently as he looked into her eyes.

"Oh my god." She breathed in disbelief as he took out a green velvet ring box with his other hand.

"Hermione, I know that we haven't dated for very long but the thought of you being missing from my life for more than one day simply kills me. This was my intention tonight but finding out that I'm going to be a father makes it even better. You are no longer a student since you took your N.E.W.T.S so I don't feel terrible about asking you this. Hermione will you marry me?" He asked her while opening the box and revealing the prestigious ring.

Hermione was crying and smiling brightly down at him. This was one proposal she would gladly accept.

"Yes Severus, I would be honored to be your wife." She said.

Severus got off the ground and took her in his arms and kissed her once more, only now he could look forward to her kisses everyday for the rest of his life.

He wiped away her tears with his thumbs while trying not to cry himself, usually nothing could make him cry but the thought of him finally getting the family he wished for so long might just have been the breaking point.

Severus took the ring out of the box and slipped it on her finger gently, it was simply perfect on her, like it was made to be there.

"Severus it is absolutely beautiful." Hermione said while admiring it.

"It's a family heirloom, it belonged to my mother and my grandmother before her."

"I feel honored to wear it Severus, I just hope I can be the kind of wife and mother your mother envisioned."

Severus tilted her chin and kissed her sweetly before placing his forehead on hers.

"Hermione you are everything and more my mother would have wanted for me, the most important thing is that I'm completely and devotedly in love with you."

"I love you too Severus, I always will." Hermione said before reaching up and kissing him once more.

AN: Yeah I know, not a whole lot of stuff went on here but Severus now knows he's a father and is ecstatic about it. Not much longer to go now. 2 or 3 more chapters and an epilogue. My goal is to get this finished by Christmas and I might just do that.

Nasty finals are coming up soon so it might be a while before I update again, but once I'm on Christmas break my time is devoted to you all. Take care.


	15. The Ball

The Ball

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my original characters. In addition, the song "So Close" by Jon McLaughlin is not mine; it belongs to the wonderful Disney movie Enchanted.

Spring moved through Hogwarts quickly and before anyone knew it, the end to another year was quickly approaching and the 7th years were preparing to graduate, all except one.

Since Hermione had taken the N.E.W.T.S already and received her diploma, she would not be graduating with the rest of her class but instead preparing for a fake wedding that had everyone on edge. Even though she was really engaged to Severus and expecting his baby, she was pretending to be engaged to the "wonderful" prince Nickolas in order to finally catch Voldemort.

Her one fear was that something would go horribly wrong and she would be married to Nickolas after all so she chanted on a daily basis that the only man she would ever be married to no matter what would be Severus.

As she dressed that morning she ran her hand over her slightly showing baby bump and smiled at herself in the mirror. She was about four months along and thanks to magic she was able to keep the bump hidden for a while now, even while wearing a tight dress.

Hermione never thought that she would be happy to be a mother at seventeen, she always thought she would graduate top of her class, go to university, get a job in magical law, and then settle down with someone. Yet being with Severus made her realize that love and family were what was truly important in life.

Just thinking about their little boy made her glow all over. Severus was doing his best to be such a good father already. Any appointment she had he was right there with her, any time they were together he demanded that she rest her feet even though they were not swollen yet. She thought he was overdoing it a bit on the protectiveness but his reasoning was that he wanted to be a better father to his son then his own father was to him and Hermione understood that.

Her thoughts were interrupted with a knock to her door and the girly voice of Ginny Weasley asking to come in.

"Hey Gin, what's up?" Hermione asked while slipping on her shoes.

"I just wanted to be sure that you were up, after all you need to be ready for the ball tomorrow night."

King Arthur and Queen Grace had insisted that they throw an engagement ball for Nickolas and Hermione before the wedding. For weeks, careful planning down to the last detail had been put into it from the classical band, to the dinner, and to Hermione's horror the guest list.

She had gotten to see it once it was made up and really had no say in changing it. It seemed every pureblood family in the wizarding world was invited including the Malfoys and the Greengrasses. Why they were invited she did not even want to know but she was mentally preparing herself for many rude comments she would receive tomorrow night about how a "filthy mudblood would be sullying the royal families' pureblood line."

"This is insane Ginny; there was really no need for a ball."

"Well you are supposedly marrying the prince of the wizarding world and will be a princess."

"I know that but everything is really outlandish not to mention his mother just had to invite every pureblood family in Europe." Hermione said while frustrated.

"Hermione, I could have told you that she would do that. After all the royal family is all pureblooded not to mention families like the Malfoys are loaded and have connections."

"I just don't want to be the brunt of insults tomorrow night."

"I honestly don't think you will be Hermione. You and Nickolas are the guests of honor and if anybody was smart they would know not to disgrace the prince's future bride in front of the king."

"I hope your right Ginny, I just keep thinking about seeing the Malfoys and our relationship, I mean yes Draco and I are cool but his father is crazy not to mention a death eater."

"Yes Mr. Malfoy is nuts I'll give you that, it amazes me how such a wonderful guy like Draco could have come from a man such as him." Ginny said, causing Hermione to look at her strangely.

"Ginny, since when is Draco "wonderful"?" Hermione asked, suspicious of her friend.

Ginny blushed at what she said and looked away suddenly finding the floor very interesting.

"Ginny Weasley is there something you're not telling me?" Hermione asked sternly.

"No…no of course not Hermione, I tell you everything!" Ginny said even redder then before.

Then it hit Hermione as to why her best friend was behaving so strangely. She should have seen it before, the longing looks she gave Draco, the way her face lit up when he smiled at her, it was so obvious now.

"Oh my god Ginny you like Draco don't you!" Hermione yelled.

"Shhh keep your voice down, I don't want the boys to hear. Yes I like Draco alright." Ginny said embarrassed.

"I don't understand though, I thought you liked Harry." Hermione said.

"Yes well it turns out I wasn't the only one who fell for a Slytherin, Harry is dating Daphne Greengrass."

"HE'S WHAT! Why doesn't anybody tell me anything anymore?" Hermione asked.

"Well you were under enough pressure as it was and I didn't want to stress you out anymore because of your baby."

"Aren't you upset by this Ginny?"

"Well at first when I did like Harry it did make me sad but the more I thought about it the more I realized that we were better off as friends. Then I started to notice Draco and well I like Draco now."

"You should so ask him to the ball tomorrow night." Hermione said.

"Oh I couldn't do that, I'm sure that he already has a date by now plus Ron would fly off the handle if he knew he was my date and I'm sure his parents would be very cross at this."

"Now Ginny listen closely because I'm only going to say this once. You are very beautiful and Draco would be a total idiot to take anyone but you. Ron would just have to get over it because he is taking Lavender and we all know what kind of girl she is plus you're a pureblood and that would be a better pill to swallow for his parents than if he went with a half-blood or a muggleborn."

"Yea I guess you're right. I'll do it, I've already got my dress and everything speaking of which Hermione, what are you going to wear?" Ginny asked.

"Oh I'll probably just transfigure my Yule Ball dress into something more appropriate for the occasion."

"Ok if you have got it covered than lets go get breakfast I imagine Jr in there is hungry." Ginny said, rubbing Hermione's belly.

Later Hermione had gotten back up to her room to see many of the girls crowding around her bed and whispering to one another excitedly.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked looking down at three gold parcels setting there on her bed.

"The queen's house elf brought these up here a little while ago, said they were from her majesty herself." Lavender said.

One box was very large and long, another looked like a golden shoebox and the other was a smaller cube like shape. Hermione was about to open it when she noticed a letter on top of the largest box with her name in elegant cursive.

Hermione tore open the letter and held the rich parchment in her hand as she read the surprising message in her hand.

_Dear Hermione,_

_It has come to my attention that you might not have any proper attire for the ball tomorrow night and since you are marrying my son, I insist you look the part of a princess instead of a common mudblood, even if it is for one night. In these three boxes you have everything you need. A designer gown, heels to match and jewelry including a tiara that is a family heirloom that I am letting you borrow so please do try not to break it._

_Grace_

"Well she almost complemented you in a way." Ginny said.

"I know, surprising since she has mentioned in not so many words that she doesn't like me."

"Come on Hermione; let us see what she sent you!" Lavender said excitedly.

Hermione thought Lavender was such a hypocrite, while she hated her for "marrying" Nickolas; she was excited to see what fashion the princess would wear since she was a fashion guru and because she liked parties.

Hermione opened the large box to see the most beautiful dress she had ever seen.

It was strapless, tight, and in a mermaid style that would flow elegantly down past her feet. It was baby blue and had a leafy line pattern in diamonds running from the side to go across the chest and trail down the skirt.

All the girls gasped at the sheer beauty of the garment and some were glaring at her with jealousy.

"Hermione, this is designed by Willow Sagebrooke! She is one of the biggest and most prestigious fashion designers in the wizarding world. I hear Narcissa Malfoy gets all her clothes designed by her!" Lavender squealed.

Hermione was speechless, this would look amazing on her she could tell and even though Nickolas' mother hated her guts, she did have impeccable taste for a woman who had only seen her a few times.

"Let's see the rest." A girl in the crowd said.

Hermione opened the box with the shoes and they did complement the dress perfectly. They were about 4 inches and silver in color, they were also strappy and the straps were covered in diamonds with a little diamond charm hanging from the front of the ankle.

Then she opened the box with the tiara in it, everyone gasped as it sparkled in the sunlight. It was a floral pattern of diamonds that would set atop her head elegantly, yes Hermione Granger would definitely steal the show tomorrow night.

"Oh Hermione, you will look just like a princess." Ginny said.

Hermione smiled, it was rare that she ever felt like that especially in the presence of others and even though she was only acting and really belonged to Severus, she was going to enjoy looking the part as much as possible.

That night Hermione was in bed reading when Ginny burst though her door bouncing up and down excitedly, red hair flying everywhere and clearly happy.

"Ginny, Ginny calm down! What's got you so happy?"

"He said yes! Draco said he'd go with me!" Ginny said while hugging Hermione.

"That's great Ginny." Hermione said, slightly bitter.

"Oh and if you didn't push me into asking him I'd still probably be pining for him. Can you believe it? He was going to take Pansy Parkinson but when I asked him he dropped her on the spot and said yes to me!"

"I had a feeling there was something there Ginny, you just had to take a chance." Hermione said sadly.

Ginny finally coming down from her high noticed Hermione was not very happy, so she sat down in bed next to her and put an arm around her.

"What is the matter Mione?"

Hermione sighed and held her head in her hands it just felt so unfair.

"It's just not fair Ginny, everyone gets to go with someone they want to be with and my arm will be attached to the royal pain all night. I will not even get to dance with the man I love, heck I don't even know if he will be there. Yes while these lavish gifts from his mother today were nice I'd trade them all in if Severus could be my date instead of Nickolas."

"Oh Hermione I'm so sorry, I didn't stop to think about how this would affect you. You're not the material girl so of course the gown and jewels wouldn't make you happy. He will be there though if Professor Dumbledore has anything to say about it. Once he sees you his heart will stop and somehow he will find a way to dance with you." Ginny said encouragingly.

"I hope so Gin; it just doesn't feel right that I will be with Nickolas all night and have to watch Severus sit at a table all night because I highly doubt he will dance with anyone else."

"Hey I'm sure it will be better than you think, don't feel so sorry for yourself. How often are you the center of attention Hermione? You always sacrifice to meet everyone else's needs, just enjoy the spotlight being on you for once."

"Yeah your right Gin I should try to enjoy myself for a little bit. So tell me how did this come about between you and Draco?"

Severus was sitting in his comfortable chair in front of the fire, nursing a glass of firewhiskey and thinking to himself bitterly about the damn ball. Everyone had been talking about it for weeks now; especially the girls and he had forgotten how many points he must have taken away in his classes because they couldn't shut up about it.

Unfortunately for him his wallowing in self pity was interrupted Dumbledore came through the fireplace uninvited with that awful smile he hated.

"Good evening Severus, are you drunk yet?" He asked.

"No you interrupted me old man." Severus said irritably.

"Goodness Severus what has gotten you in such a bad mood?" Dumbledore asked.

"This damn ball Albus, everywhere I go I hear people talking about it. All it does is make me think that I can't be with the one I love all night. I don't even think I will go."

Albus stood there stunned at what Severus said, how could one man be so negative?

"Now you listen to me boy, you are going to this ball and you are going to have a good time even if you have to force yourself. One way or another we will find a way for you to dance with Hermione and spend time with her so stop sulking for once."

"I just can't help it Albus. She is mine and seeing her on the arm of another man is going to drive me mad."

"Well think about this then Severus, you know for a fact that this is all fake, nothing more than a plan for the order, and when she comes through those doors tomorrow night looking beautiful, she will be looking at you I just know it. Would you really want to miss that?" He asked.

"No, no I would not want to miss that. Your right Albus." Severus said before swigging the rest of his drink.

"Well I guess I had better search my closet for my good dress robes then." Severus said, slightly smiling.

Quickly the next night came and the ball was on everyone's mind. Multiple house elves were running through the halls, carrying various objects like chairs and candelabras to the grand ballroom on the fifth floor. Students stood outside the locked door attempting every spell imaginable that would allow them to see what it looked like inside but nobody was successful.

Everyone stood around the door until they were forced to part ways when the king and queen entered the school. Even though tonight was meant to be a great celebration, the looks on their faces was nothing shy of fatigue. Dark circles were painted under their eyes and a few more wrinkles were present on their faces but the cold, stern looks were still the same.

"Ah good afternoon your majesties." Dumbledore said with a low bow.

"Good afternoon Professor Dumbledore, I trust that the venue is looking like what we envisioned?" Grace asked while pulling her white fox fur wrap around her tighter.

"Certainly your majesty, why my students go and prepare for the ball…" Dumbledore turned to his students and said with emphasis.

"Why don't we go inside and see if it is to your liking." Dumbledore said, shooing his students away and ushering the royal couple inside.

Meanwhile Hermione had been spending the day getting pampered and beautiful by some house elves that the queen sent over for the celebration tonight. Hermione at first was seriously refusing to be taken care of all day by house elves but Ginny gave her the "you don't get pampered enough" speech and therefore was not given much of a choice in the matter.

To Hermione's surprise, the house elves were experts in doing makeup, styling her barely manageable hair, and even giving killer massages even though nothing could compare to Severus' erotic massages.

By the time, Ginny came in, in her lavender ball gown she was tearing up at how beautiful Hermione looked. The only other time Hermione would look even more beautiful then now would be her wedding day easily. The blue ball gown molded Hermione's body perfectly and emphasized the curves that were normally hiding in her cloths.

Her curly hair was pulled into a poufy bun at the top of her head and the crown she was given to wear was wrapped around it elegantly. In addition, the combination of her stunning makeup and jewelry pulled it all together and turned book worm Hermione into the princess that was always in her.

"Oh my god Hermione your beautiful! A certain somebody is not going to be able to take his eyes off of you tonight." Ginny said happily.

"Thanks Ginny, you look incredible yourself. Draco is going to be speechless when he sees you. By the way does Ron know that Draco is your date?"

"Yes he and Harry found out last night. You should have seen the looks on their faces, Ron was redder than I ever have seen him get and Harry was trying to come up with any excuse he could think of as to why it was a bad idea."

"Oh wow what happened?" Hermione asked.

"Well I called Harry a hypocrite since he was dating Daphne and as it turns out Ron didn't know he was dating her so that led to an argument and they forgot all about me for about 45 minutes then turned back from me and were saying things like "he's Malfoy he's no good for you" blah, blah, blah. So I turned to them both and gave my biggest Molly impression and told them that I was going with Draco and that was final. Needless to say since my impression of my mother could be scary, they got the picture."

Hermione laughed as she played all this out in her head and was feeling a lot better about tonight coming together.

"Oh dear, miss we had better go down stairs and meet the master." Lulu the house elf said.

Hermione's smile fell slightly as she was brought back to reality. With a thank you to the elf, she took hold of her dress so she wouldn't trip down the stairs and went down to the common room with Ginny in tow.

A collective gasp was heard throughout the room and every male including Ron, Harry, and Draco stood there gaping at her like fishes.

"Bloody hell Hermione you look amazing!" Ron said much to Lavender's annoyance.

"Yeah Mione if you weren't taken I'd so like to have you behind a staircase." Fred said before his date smacked his arms rather hard.

Hermione was blushing like mad at all the attention she was getting when Nickolas came up to her and kissed her cheek gently.

"Oh my bride let me look at you, you are exquisite. I knew from the moment I saw you that you were indeed princess material." He said smiling his gleaming white smile.

His mother had taken more planning into this than Hermione thought when she saw her "fiancée" his dress robes were a rich tailored black but his vest was a baby blue that matched her dress and his smooth black hair was tied back with a matching blue ribbon.

"Shall we?" He asked her extending his arm to her.

Hermione smiled at him gently and took the arm he was offering while taking a quick glance at the others.

Ginny had a hold of Draco's arm in a well-mannered fashion and Draco never looked so happy as he stared at his lovely date, yes they were indeed a good match. Daphne was holding onto Harry and giving everyone a superior look as if she was the star of the show because she was considered hot. Ron was glaring at Draco for being near his sister and both at Ginny and Harry, clearly not talking to either of them still as his overly clingy girlfriend held onto him for dear life.

"_I have a feeling this will be a night I will never forget"_ Hermione thought as she exited the common room with her precession of friends behind her.

They arrived outside the ballroom and waited to be announced while hearing the party that was inside through the door.

"Ladies and gentleman, it is my pleasure to introduce to you tonight Prince Nickolas Dorcas Grey and his lovely bride Hermione Jane Granger!" The voice of Professor Flitwick announced to the crowd of people.

The doors opened and Hermione and Nickolas stepped through with the others following behind. Everyone in the room was clapping but this did not distract Hermione from looking for Severus.

It took just a moment but she finally found him blending into the shadows near the wall with a look of awe on his face and his wonderful smile when she smiled at him lovingly.

As customary procedure Hermione and Nickolas came up to his parents and both bowed low as she was instructed to do earlier that day.

"Mother, father I present to you your future queen and daughter in law Hermione Granger." Nickolas said.

Arthur took hold of Hermione's hand and kissed it gently with a smile before returning the bow along with his wife.

"Hermione Granger I speak for my wife as well as myself and the entire Wizarding world, that it is a great honor to welcome you into our family and the as the future queen of our world." Arthur said before cheers erupted into the crowd.

The dinner was exquisite as was the rest of the atmosphere. Grace adapted the ballroom to look like that of a royal palace with high crystal chandeliers and romantic glowing silver candles on candelabras and beautiful purple lighting that gave the area a true feeling of romance.

After dinner, it was also customary for the king and queen as well as the prince and his bride to dance the first dance of the evening while everyone stood to watch as the tables were cleared away.

While dancing Hermione quickly noticed that, the shoes that Grace picked out for her were hurting terribly even with a cushioning charm to them. She wondered if this was some sick revenge that her future "mother –in –law" had planned on purpose because she wasn't the ideal mate she envisioned for her son. Whatever the reason was, it was too late to do anything about it now as she forced a smile on her face when she looked at Nickolas.

"You look beautiful tonight my love." He said to her, oblivious to her discomfort.

"Thank you my darling, you look dashing as always." She said.

She began to notice also while she was dancing with Nickolas that her son was protesting something terrible with his kicking. It was as if he was saying to her "your dancing with the wrong person, you should be dancing with daddy."

Hermione did her best to ignore him for now since she had to play her part when she felt Nickolas' hand creep down secretly to her behind as he whispered in her ear.

"I can't wait to make you mine tomorrow night, fully mine." He whispered before kissing her hair and making her skin crawl.

The rest of the night, the guests enjoyed themselves quite a bit and overall it was a great party for everyone but two people. Hermione wasn't having a good time not only because she longed to dance with Severus but Nickolas seemed to be having trouble keeping his hands to himself tonight. Severus was beyond annoyed and was rather upset because he caught Nickolas groping his love on more than one occasion. If this damn operation of being undercover wasn't so important he would have walked right on the dance floor, punched the prince and broke his perfect nose and taken Hermione away from there. However, that was not possible and all he could do was stand there and think of creative ways to hurt the man in his head.

Finally, it came to the end of the night and Professor Dumbledore made an announcement to the group.

"Ladies and gentleman would you please find a partner that you did not come with tonight and prepare to waltz to the final song of the night.

Hermione smiled at this and looked up at Dumbledore and mouthed a "thank you" to him in which she received a gentle wink in return.

Severus' breath caught in his throat as Hermione made her way across the room and extended her hand to him.

"God I love that old man forever for this." Severus said with a smile as he took her hand.

"Me too love." Hermione said as she was about to lead him on the dance floor but was stopped by him.

"I noticed that you seem to be quite in a lot of pain when you were dancing tonight love, allow me to make you feel better." Severus said and with a wave of his hand Hermione immediately felt the painful pressure that was on her feet all night disappear.

"It would appear that the queen does not like you very much." He said, taking her hand once more, lead her to the floor and began gracefully waltzing with her.

_You're in my arms and all the world is calm_

_The music playing on for only two_

_So close together and when I'm with you_

_So close to feeling alive_

"You have bewitched me tonight my love; I have never seen you look so beautiful. It kills me that I could not tell you sooner." Severus said.

"I know Severus, I hate pretending when all I wanted was to be near you all night"

_A life goes by, romantic dreams will stop_

_So I bid mine goodbye and never knew_

_So close was waiting, waiting here with you_

_And now forever I know_

_All that I wanted to hold you so close_

"I could kill that bastard for touching you that way, believe me if I could I would have."

"You saw that? I didn't think anybody noticed."

"Honey I'm a spy, nothing get's past me." Severus said before twirling Hermione around gently.

_So close to reaching that famous happy end_

_Almost believing this was not pretend_

_Now you're beside me and look how far we've come_

_So far we are so close_

"You know our son wasn't too happy at my choice of dance partner tonight."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, he kept kicking me the whole time I was dancing with Nickolas but now that I'm dancing with you he has calmed down."

"That's my boy; he knows where his mommy belongs."

"As do I, I could never be happy in anyone else's arms but yours."

"I look forward to reminding you of that forever Hermione."

_How could I face he faceless days_

_If I should lose you now?_

_We're so close_

_To reaching that famous happy end_

_Almost believing this was not pretend_

_Let's go on dreaming for we know we are_

_So close_

_So close_

_And still so far_

"I love you Hermione, I will until the day I die and even after that." Severus said as the song was ending.

"I love you too Severus, forever and always no matter what." She whispered.

Suddenly Hermione felt a hand at her lower back and turned around to see Nickolas glaring at Severus with blazingly golden eyes.

"Mind if I take my fiancée back Severus?" Nickolas asked him and took a hold of Hermione like he was rescuing her.

"Nope, I had my dance in for tonight she is all yours." Severus said, brushing off his jacket.

Hermione followed Nickolas and turned one more time to look at Severus whom mouthed "sorry" to her and she nodded.

"Interesting choice of partner you had for the last dance darling." Nickolas said now slightly less jealous.

"Well since he is my ex I figured this would be a good way to say our goodbyes to one another since we will not see each other again." Hermione said, trying not to get choked up at her own words.

"Well when you put it that way my lovely it does make since, now let's get you back to your room so you can have plenty of rest for our wedding tomorrow." Nickolas said.

"Yes that sounds lovely, I am rather tired." Hermione said, ending the conversation and replaying the last dance over and over in her mind.

AN: Yay, finals are over and now I have a month off. My goal for Christmas most likely will not happen because I have too much to do so I'm extending my personal deadline to the 18th of January, which is when I will go back or at the very latest the end of January.

This song is a favorite of mine so if you haven't heard it you should give it a listen as well as watch the movie Enchanted.

To see Hermione's dress, shoes, and crown please type in these links below and take care.

dress: .

shoes: http://www.

crown: /royal_rep/tag/ceremonies-united-kingdom-monarchies/


	16. The Not So Fake Wedding

The Not So Fake Wedding

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my original characters.

Dawn had just broken over the horizon and Hermione was pacing back and forth in her room like a caged panther. The carriages that were supposed to bring everyone who was attending the wedding at the castle in Shadricks Ferry were going to be there in an hour, reminding Hermione that this plan was getting closer and closer to completion.

From what Grace had told her yesterday, she was to bring everything she would need with her and she would ride in the princess's carriage, which would consist of her, her maid of honor, and her appointed ladies in waiting and make the hour-long journey there with the guest carriages in tow. She would then change in the bridal suite and have time to visit with friends before the ceremony.

Then came the whole awkward wedding night conversation, which Hermione knew all about anyway since she had been with Severus but still managed to pull off the whole "surprised and embarrassed virgin" act. Despite how ruthless Grace could be, she was all business and seemed to want this over with as much as Hermione.

Hermione hadn't slept much the night before and was tired, not to mention nauseated because she was nervous and scared at what could go wrong.

A knock came at Hermione's door then, interrupting her thoughts.

"Come in." She said weakly.

Both Harry and Ron walked in, still in their pajamas and looking just as tired as she was.

"I see you both couldn't sleep either." Hermione said.

"Are you okay Hermione?" Ron asked.

At that point, Hermione had been so emotional all morning that she felt another wave of tears coming again. As soon as she started to cry, both Harry and Ron came to her and enveloped her into a tight embrace and sat her down on the floor gently.

"I'm just so scared, for myself, for Severus, for everyone." Hermione rambled.

"I know Mione, so are we. Why would you be worried about Snape though?" Harry asked, unsure why Snape was involved.

Hermione quickly realized her emotional mistake and tried to cover it up.

"Because of what Draco said, if he is discovered to really be on our side he will be killed without hesitation." Hermione said looking away from them.

"Is that really all that's going on here Hermione?" Harry asked suspiciously, while Ron just stared at her clueless.

Hermione looked into Harry's eyes and from the looks of it, he seemed to know there was more going on then what she was telling, so she figured it was high time she told the truth.

"No your right Harry there is more to it but if I tell you both you must promise me you won't get upset with me, I don't think I can handle it." Hermione begged.

Ron and Harry both looked at one another, worried as to what could bother their friend so much about Snape. They both turned back to Hermione and nodded in agreement to her.

Hermione wrapped her arms around herself and was trying to fight the nervous breakdown that was forming in her stomach while gathering her thoughts.

"Well you both know Nickolas isn't really my fiancé." Hermione stated.

"Yes" they both said in unison.

"In truth I really do have a fiancé, Severus and I are engaged." Hermione said.

Silence overtook the room, enough to make Hermione look up at her friend's faces.

Ron looked like he was going to faint or else kill somebody she didn't know which. Harry looked surprised but not enough to want to hurt somebody.

"You can't be serious." Ron said.

"I think she is mate. You are serious aren't you Hermione?" Harry asked already knowing the answer.

"Yes Harry I'm not joking. If Severus and I make it through today we plan to get married."

Ron stood up as if he had been burned and was pacing wildly and muttering to himself angrily.

"Ron…" Hermione started.

"Why Hermione, why! He's a no good evil bastard who never had a meaningful place on this earth. And you're telling me that you are getting married to him? Are you out of YOUR FUCKING MIND!?" Ron yelled, making Hermione cry once more.

"Hey mate, don't yell at her!" Harry yelled at Ron.

"Oh and why the hell are you so calm about this Harry? You should be pissed about this as I am. But then again I guess a virus is going around to where everyone is in love with a bloody Slytherin!"

"Ron please stop yelling at Harry." Hermione cried, now in hysterics.

After hearing Hermione's desperate tone, Ron immediately felt bad for making her cry and for breaking his promise that he wouldn't get mad.

"I'm sorry Hermione, I'm sorry Harry. I just don't understand why Snape? Hell I don't understand why everyone is in love with a Slytherin."

"You'd have to date one to understand Ron, they aren't as bad as you think." Hermione said.

"It's true, they are loyal and understanding. And when you mean a great deal to them they are very protective of you and are gentle lovers." Harry said.

"Is that how Snape is to you Hermione?" Ron asked.

Hermione nodded in agreement.

"He is all that and more Ron, he listens to me when nobody else will, and he and I challenge each other with stimulating conversation. He's gentle and tender with me and most importantly, he loves me Ron. You might not understand that now but I hope in time you will."

Ron sighed and rubbed his temples while Hermione and Harry looked at him expectantly.

"Don't expect me to be happy about this Hermione, I can barely stomach the fact that Harry is dating Daphne. But if I know you, when you have your heart set out on something there is no changing your mind."

Hermione smiled, she knew that for years to come Ron would still not be happy about this but his response was just as good as a blessing.

"Well now that's all out in the open…" Harry started as he stood up.

"Wait there is more." Hermione interrupted, making Harry sit back down in shock and Ron moan again.

"I'm almost afraid to ask what else could there be Hermione." Ron said.

"I know I have put a lot on the both of you already this morning but I figure that if I'm coming clean with everything I had better tell everything." Hermione said.

The boys were silent, waiting for Hermione to surprise them with whatever else she had to tell them. They noticed that she was taking even longer to gather her thoughts, leading them to believe that this was much worse.

"I'm pregnant." Hermione suddenly interjected.

Both of their jaws dropped to the floor and this time Harry got up abruptly and began to mutter.

Ron was ghost white and speechless, so much that Hermione couldn't even begin to guess what was going through his head.

"Oh wow Hermione, I don't even know what to say." Harry said short tempered.

"I do, I thought the first piece of news was bad but this is far worse. What the hell were you thinking Hermione? My god you're seventeen, you got your whole life ahead of you and you're going to sacrifice that to be a mom?! This was the last thing I expected of you." Ron said angrily.

"Funny I always imagined this talk would have come from my father and not my friends."

"Help me understand Hermione, why? Is this why you and Snape are getting married? Because you know there are options…" Harry said but was interrupted by an increasingly angry Hermione.

"Stop right there Harry. No I'm not marrying Severus because I'm carrying his child, I'm marrying him because I love him and want to spend my life with him. Yes while I was surprised to find that I was pregnant, I'm not upset about it at all. Don't you see boys? All my life I've been nothing but a workaholic and just have done things for the sole purpose of being perfect.

When Severus and I saw one another in a different light all that changed for me, he saved me from going through life an empty shell with nothing but empty accomplishments that don't mean a damn thing at the end of the day. Harry, Ron, I know your upset about this but please try and understand this through my eyes. I had taken for granted how truly important family is and Severus has given me that. A wonderful husband and a son to come home to when everything has been exhausting is the greatest gift I could have ever been given."

Once again, Harry and Ron were speechless, Hermione really had a gift when it came to making since of it all.

"I don't really understand Hermione and probably never will, but if this is what you really want…" Harry said.

"Yes Harry this is what I want, more than anything."

"Well like Harry said I really don't understand it either but I'm not willing to let it come between the three of us." Ron said, hugging his friends.

"Yeah I agree." Harry said and Hermione nodded.

"But why couldn't you have told us all this before?" Ron asked.

"Well Ginny knows everything plus I knew how the both of you would act when I told you. Besides, why couldn't have Harry told me that he was dating Daphne? Or the argument you two had the other night about Ginny liking Draco?" Hermione asked.

Both boys looked down at their feet in embarrassment, clearly, nobody had been a very good friend this year.

"We're sorry Hermione, your right we have been keeping too many secrets with one another. We will do better from now on." Ron said with Harry agreeing.

Suddenly Harry remembered the conversation they were having about the baby, as if it was just hitting him.

"So you're really having a boy?" Harry asked, looking down at her slightly swelled baby bump that he just now noticed.

"Yes, I'm about four months along. Severus and I haven't come up with any names yet though." Hermione said, rubbing her stomach and smiling.

"Can we be godparents?" Ron asked.

"Well I'll have to talk to Severus about it…"

"That means no." Harry said, causing everyone to laugh.

They looked at the time and saw that they only had 20 minutes to get ready and meet with Dumbledore to go over the plans the order made before the carriages arrived. They were all getting ready and the feeling of dread was entering their minds at an alarming rate.

In a matter of hours they would be in the castle and Voldemort would be somewhere in the chapel in disguise as would the death eaters. Just the thought of loosing even one of their friends made them want to be sick.

Time passed and the carriages finally arrived. Hermione found Ginny and climbed aboard the princesses' carriage with her appointed ladies in waiting already there. Hermione had wanted to talk to Ginny more about what was really going on but since the ladies were of the palace and were given to her by Grace, she had no choice but to continue the charade with Ginny so that the ladies wouldn't go running to their queen.

She caught a glimpse of Nickolas smiling happily to his parents as he was boarding the royal carriage, looking the happiest she had ever seen him. For a fraction of a second Hermione actually felt badly for deceiving him, since he thought he was actually getting married today.

Once everybody who was attending had boarded the appropriate carriages the Pegasus's kicked off into the air and were flying above the clouds. Hermione was thankful that it was a nice day because she felt nauseous enough knowing she was flying.

The ride there was relatively silent and inactive, Hermione had been both terribly bored and racked with nerves at everything.

"There is the palace Lady Hermione." One of the ladies chimed in, pointing out the window.

Hermione looked out the window and was very impressed by what she saw. It wasn't as big as the Hogwarts castle but it was rather what you would imagine seeing in a fairytale. It was of grey stone and white marble and sat on a hill and was looking over a very dreary kingdom now.

Clearly, Voldemort was having a blast being here and torturing the villages. The land looked dark and dry with no sign of life anywhere and an ominous aura seemed to surround the kingdom and the palace itself. The carriages touched down on the roof on what appeared to be the magical equivalent of a runway for airplanes.

She and Ginny waited for the royal family to get out and go inside first because apparently the magical world was more taboo about the groom seeing his bride before the wedding then the muggle world was. Once they had made it inside Hermione and Ginny were ushered out of the carriage by the ladies and were following them to the bridal suite while being accompanied by knights.

The inside was just a beautiful as the outside. It sort of reminded Hermione of the palace of Versailles in France when she went on vacation with her parents one summer. Multiple chandeliers hung from the ceiling and followed down the passageway that they were headed.

Paintings of past royalty adorned the walls and most of them sneered at Hermione as she walked passed, apparently, the rumor of her being a mudblood had gotten to the artwork.

Finally, the ladies led them to a portrait of a fairy sitting on a mushroom and playing with a rabbit.

Instead of a password, the ladies produced a key and turned the doorknob to reveal Hermione's suite.

It was definitely fit for a female that was sure. Everything in the room was a rose color and the room itself managed to smell like roses. Against the wall was a plush bed and a gold gilded vanity with various beauty products on top. The elves had taken the liberty of delivering Hermione's things to the room while she was arriving and had placed them on the bed.

"We will be here to help you and Lady Ginny get ready and then we will leave and allow you to spend time with your friends before the ceremony." One lady said.

"Thank you, I appreciate your help." Hermione said while walking over to the bag where her wedding dress was being held and unzipping it for the first time. The dress was magnificent, much more beautiful than anything she would have picked out. It was surprisingly simple with clean, white silk and was a mermaid style much like her ball gown was. The short sleeves of white, flowery lace would caress her shoulders elegantly as the diamonds along the bust line would enhance her assets beautifully.

To complete her wedding attire was a large diamond and silver crown that marked her as future queen and a long lace cathedral veil that took the place of a long train. All in all the entire ensemble couldn't have been more perfect and made the rest of the women in the room gasp with jealousy.

It took a surprisingly little amount of time for he to change and have her hair and makeup done. Her ladies in waiting were not only very fast with their work but were also very particular to detail. Apparently, Grace had told them that she wanted her to look beautiful enough that if her portrait was to be painted on that day, she would be "more than acceptable."

Once she was finished, the ladies made their leave only to find a gentleman in which Hermione did not recognize standing outside the door preparing to knock.

She did admit that he did look somewhat familiar with his body structure and all but his long salt and pepper hair, brown eyes, and olive skin made him a mystery to her.

"Excuse me ladies, I was wondering if the princess was able to have visitors yet?" The man asked them.

"Oh of course sir, she has just finished getting ready and can have visitors now." One lady said before they left the room, allowing the man to get a better view of Hermione.

He closed the door behind him and Hermione and Ginny just stared in his direction, still clueless as to whom he was.

"Hermione my love, you are a goddess." The man said.

"Who are you?" She asked, feeling slightly confused and a little creeped out.

"Wow, my disguise must be better than I thought. It is me Hermione, Severus." He said.

"Prove it." Ginny said, still unsure.

Severus turned to her and glared as his mouth became a taught, straight line and he cleared his throat before speaking.

"Miss Weasley, 30 points from Gryffindor for being an aggravating, red-headed, weasel like your brothers."

"Hey!" Ginny yelled.

"It really is you Severus, nobody can punish like you do. Your disguise is amazing."

"Yes, very." Ginny said, still slightly annoyed.

"Thank you my dear, Miss Weasley would you mind giving us a moment alone please?"

"Yes sir I shall. I think I'll see if I can go find Draco in this place." Ginny said before leaving the room.

"Draco?" Severus asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'll explain later, I'm just so glad to see you." Hermione said while coming over to him and hugging him.

"I'm glad to see you to my darling. Like I said before you look exquisite."

"I'm so worried though and I feel so horrible. Just thinking about the fact that Nickolas will be at the end of the aisle makes me cringe."

"I know Hermione but you have nothing to worry about, I'll be there as well as the rest of the order in disguise. Potter and Weasley will also be there."

"I know Severus, I just worry too much. Plus the thought of finally facing Voldemort is nerve wracking." Hermione said.

Severus tilted her chin and looked into her glistening brown eyes with his own. Even though his eye color was different, the intensity he always had was still present.

"Believe me Hermione I'm just as worried, for you, for our son. I worry that I might die and leave you and our baby alone. I worry that I will lose the both of you when I know I can't live without either of you. However, I can't let these thoughts control me now. We have come so close love, we can't give up now. Once this is over, you and I will live the rest of our lives together happily."

"I love you so much Severus, you always know how to make me feel better." Hermione said before closing the distance between them and kissing him.

Severus groaned as he held her close and accepted the kiss willingly. It had been a while since they had been intimate due to Hermione's role in snaring Nickolas so the toll it took on his libido was rough. Severus deepened the kiss and a heated moan erupted from her throat as she tangled her fingers in his salt and pepper hair.

Just as soon as things were beginning to heat up between the couple, a knock from the door got their attention and they moved away from one another just in time before Harry stepped in.

"Wow Hermione you look amazing." Harry said.

"Thank you Harry, you don't look so bad yourself. Won't it be hard to fight Voldemort in a tux though?" Hermione asked.

"Eh I manage it." Harry said, shrugging his shoulders. His attention turned to Severus and he raised an eyebrow over to the man he didn't recognize.

"Who are you?" Harry asked.

"Take a wild guess Potter." Severus said, slightly irritated.

Harry's eyebrows shot into his hairline as he looked at Severus, now recognizing who he was.

"Bloody Hell Snape, nobody will recognize you in that."

"Potter if you didn't have to destroy Voldemort I'd kill you right now."

"At least I don't wear pink lipstick." Harry retorted smugly.

Severus' eyes widened as he rushed over to the mirror to see that sure enough he had Hermione's pink lipstick on his lips from their snogging session earlier.

"Shit." He mumbled as he was wiping his lips off, causing Harry and Hermione to laugh.

"Well I came over to tell you that all the guests are in the chapel and that everyone is ready and waiting for you."

"Oh Merlin." Hermione said, grabbing her rose bouquet and forcing herself to breath.

"Calm down Hermione, it is going to be alright." Severus said before turning to Harry.

"Potter, did Albus fill you in on how this is going to happen?"

"Well all I know is that Ron and I will be in the balcony and we will be able to see the entire chapel from there. We will be using communication devises that the Weasley twins developed to communicate with the rest of the order. You are to be in the back aisles in case your glamour begins to wear off and therefore Nickolas won't be able to see you."

"Now wait a minute…" Severus said angrily.

"It is just what have been told Snape, evidentially Dumbledore has us all in our positions for a reason. Now Hermione, Dumbledore is going to walk you down the aisle and we are going to meet him halfway to the chapel so you and lover boy better go now before Grace hunts you down and puts your head on a spear." Harry said.

Severus gave Harry his middle finger before he left, grinning like an idiot.

"So he knows about us huh?" Severus asked, holding out his arm for her to take.

"Yes, I told him this morning. He took it surprisingly well." Hermione said while slipping her hand into the crook of his arm.

Severus was going to say more but they were pressed for time so they walked out of the bridal suite and down the long hallway that led to the chapel. Neither one of them spoke due to the fact that they were both so tense. At the halfway point, they could hear a feint melody of wedding music and Albus was leaning against the wall, twiddling his thumbs and humming along.

"Ah my dear you are beautiful, are you ready?" Albus asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be I suppose." Hermione said, taking his arm.

Severus walked up to Albus and got really close to the older man and whispered in his ear.

"If anything goes wrong Albus, anything at all I swear to you that I will cut out your tongue and shove it down your throat personally. You're putting my family in great danger today." Severus said menacingly.

"Trust me Severus, if anything goes wrong I'd want you to do so." Albus said gravely before turning to look at a confused Hermione and giving her a weak smile.

"Come along then." Albus said before walking with Hermione with Severus behind her.

They approached the closed doors of the chapel and heard the wedding music suddenly go quiet, signaling that the bride was just about to enter. Ginny was standing next to the door and fiddling with her wildflower bouquet while Draco was attempting to calm her down.

"Let's get this over with." Hermione whispered as they got into formation.

The wedding march began to play and Draco and Ginny made their way down the aisle first as the standing guests watched them. Ginny looked up and did her best not to growl at the smug prince. What did get her attention though was the priest, there was just something about him that Ginny couldn't put her finger on that made her extremely nervous.

Before parting, Draco gave Ginny a sweet kiss on the cheek before taking his spot in the front row and Ginny stood up at the altar and secretly shooting glances at the priest.

Hermione and Albus came down next and Hermione put on her best fake happy smile as she looked to the front at Nickolas. There he stood, smiling his gleaming white smile and looking devilishly handsome in his tux. It took everything Hermione had not to roll her eyes at the man.

She made a quick glance up at the balcony to see Harry and Ron looking down at her and giving a thumbs up. She inwardly chuckled at the fact that they looked like secret agents in a spy movie but forced herself to remain focused.

Finally she came to the front of the alter and stood in front of the priest and gave her bouquet to Ginny before turning to Nickolas and taking his hands.

She saw his blue eyes look into hers and gave an involuntary gulp at the intensity she saw in them which he only took as slight nervousness and caused him to smile.

"We gather here on this joyous occasion to join this man and this woman together, forever, in holy matrimony." The priest started in his low and somewhat raspy voice that made Hermione shiver.

"If there is anyone here that thinks that these two should not be married, let them speak now or forever hold their peace."

Severus wanted so badly to stop this but he knew he could not. All he could do was sit there in the back row and clench his fists as he observed around him. He did take note that a few people that he didn't recognize seemed to be moving slowly among the aisles and getting closer to the front. He assumed that these were indeed death eaters in disguise.

"Very well, do you Nickolas take Hermione to be your wife? To have and to hold from this day forward. For better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in heath til death do you part?"

Nickolas just smiled brightly at his lovely bride and fought the urge to kiss her now.

"I do."

"And do you Hermione take Nickolas to be your husband? To have and to hold from this day forward. For better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health til death do you part?"

Nickolas expected an immediate answer of "I do" from her but she just stood there silently and looked as if she was forced to drink skele-gro.

"Hermione, say I do." He mumbled to her, his smile quickly fading.

"I can't, I- I can't do it." She said causing everyone in the chapel to gasp as she felt Grace's death glare on the back of her neck.

"What do you mean you can't Hermione, I love you? What is wrong?" Nickolas asked impatiently.

"I'm just not ready for this."

"Well it is a little late now don't you think?" Nickolas asked.

"I just can't Nickolas, I'm sorry."

"Now Hermione be reasonable, he has been waiting a long time for this." The priest said in a clearly irritated tone, causing his voice to sound even raspier.

It suddenly hit Hermione as to why she was so nervous around this man, it was because he wasn't a man at all.

"Well I would be more reasonable but we know the real reason as to why he wants to marry me, don't we Voldemort?" She asked the priest.

Voldemort shook with rage as his polyjuice potion began wearing off quickly due to his sudden rise in temper. Soon gone was the grey haired, wrinkly, and kind face of the priest and was replaced by the scaly green and red-eyed Voldemort, causing everyone to scream in terror.

As Voldemort immerged so did the death eaters as well as the order members, all surrounding one another as the guests ran in fright.

Suddenly Voldemort pulled out his wand and aimed it at a frightened Hermione.

"I've waited too long for this mudblood. His status and your brains would have made the perfect combination for an heir. But I see that I should have done things my way, and now you'll pay. Prepare to die!" Voldemort yelled as he sent the killing curse towards Hermione.

"Get Down!" Nickolas yelled as he grabbed Hermione and through her to the ground and covered her body protectively.

Voldemort aimed his wand then at Nickolas, which caused Grace and Arthur to scream.

"We had a deal Voldemort!" Grace yelled.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you not to make a deal that you can't fulfill?" Voldemort asked.

"Don't hurt him please!" Arthur begged.

Voldemort looked at the king wickedly and began to laugh manically, not noticing that Harry, Ron, and Draco were inching themselves closer to the altar.

"Alright your majesty I'm flexible." Voldemort said before sending the killing curse to Arthur and hitting him in the chest, causing his death before he hit the floor.

"FATHER!" Nickolas yelled before running to his dead father and crying hard like his mother was.

"I believe that this would make you king now huh Nickolas? What a pity that the entire wizarding world would fall to ruins because no king was in power. Oh wait, if I make myself king after you all are dead then I would rule, and I would make things the way they should be by destroying every non pureblood there was." Voldemort rambled before aiming his want at Nickolas once more.

"Hey ugly I believe your fight is with me!" Harry yelled, pointing his wand at Voldemort.

"Ah yes Potter I almost forgot you were here I was having so much fun. No matter you'll die just as quickly as that fool Arthur did. But first, I want to see that coward Severus as well as Lucius Malfoy stand before me.

Severus, now back to his normal self, walked up to Voldemort calmly as did Lucius. They were both about to bow when Voldemort snarled at them, causing them to stay still.

With one blow, Voldemort struck Lucius in his pretty face, causing him to fall over and howl in pain.

"What was that for my lord?" Lucius asked.

"For you being so stupid by not putting a silencing charm on the room when you discuss important business, causing your idiot son to blab to Severus all the plans we made!" Voldemort yelled while glaring at Draco, making him flinch.

"Forgive me my lord." Lucius bowed.

"Well you'll have the afterlife to think about what you've done, AVADA KEDAVRA!" Voldemort yelled, killing Lucius and making Draco yell with sorrow.

"Now as for you Severus, I suspected you were not loyal to me for a while but I never imagined it was to the extent that you fell in love with a mudblood. I never thought you would be so pathetic. Well I think the most appropriate punishment is for me to finish your woman first before killing you."

"STUPIFY!" Harry yelled and sending the curse towards Voldemort only to miss by mere inches.

"You want to fight Potter, well you'll get it. CRUCIO!" Voldemort yelled, beginning the battle.

For what felt like hours curses flew left and right between the two opposing forces. Severus and Hermione were back to back as were Ginny and Draco and throwing curses at death eaters that dared to approach them. Harry and Voldemort were engaged intensely and hell bent on killing one another as they flung curses and destroyed the atmosphere around them.

Then suddenly it was as if time had stood still and the big moment that everyone had been waiting on finally came. Harry had weakened Voldemort enough to where he was able to send out the killing curse and hit Voldemort square in the chest and sent him down at least.

Silence filled the air for a brief moment before the tears and shouts of victory rang through. People cried for both those lost and for the victory, they gained. Ginny and Draco held one another and cried into each other's shoulders. His tears for his father, hers for Fred.

Hermione and Severus held one another and kissed as if the New Year had come early, but Hermione had stopped to look over her shoulder at the mother and son weeping on the floor for everything they lost.

Just as she was about to go over to them the aurors had come to arrest the remaining death eaters as they put both Nickolas and Grace in shackles.

"Queen Grace and King Nickolas, you both are being charged with conspiracy, and as accessories to murder." The auror said.

"You can't arrest us! We are rulers of the wizarding world, my son is now king, you can't leave the world without a king!" Grace yelled while Nickolas was deep in thought.

He looked over at Hermione and Severus, yes, he felt betrayed that her love for him was all an act but in a way, he felt he deserved it. He had done many things to hurt this young woman and this man and he felt it was time to make things as right as he possibly could.

Nickolas walked over to the couple that was both hugging and watching his every move as if he was ready to strike.

"Hermione, I need… I need to let you know something. When I first started this plan my love for you was not real, I was doing it to save my family from that monster, but as I got to know you I realized that I wasn't faking anymore. Towards the end it was real for me Hermione, I did love you I still do and probably always will."

"Oh Nickolas…"

"Please let me finish." Nickolas responded.

"I know that you love Severus and never stopped and while I do feel hurt that you led me on for so long I understand why you did it. I also know that he is the one that was meant for you all along and not I." Nickolas said before turning to Severus.

"Severus, you have shown me great qualities a man can possess, I just wish I possessed them as well. Your courage and your selflessness to protecting Hermione from anything shows me how much you love your family. You're a remarkable thinker and I hate to admit it but I'm jealous of that. After seeing you in action I can now see that you have the potential to be a great leader."

"Exactly what are you saying Nickolas?" Severus asked.

"They are going to cart me off to Azkaban for the crimes I've committed and this world needs a king. As current king, I have the power to transfer my power over to someone else. Severus I need to know, will you do me the honor of taking my place as king of the wizarding world?"

Severus was pale and his heart raced in his chest, everyone else around him was in shock but nobody really seemed to object to the idea. Severus was a great man and had proven that by being dedicated to the order so strongly. True he was a former death eater but he realized his mistake when things happened that he didn't sign up for and he repented for his mistake a thousand times over.

Severus was trying to get his mouth to speak but his brain was too preoccupied with thinking about the offer.

"_King, me a king? I don't know if I can do this, I'm no good with people let alone an entire kingdom. What would Hermione want? She is going to be my wife after all. Would she want to be a queen?"_

Severus turned to Hermione and looked at her with confusion and questions in his eyes.

"Hermione, what do you think I ought to do?" Severus asked.

"Severus this is your decision to make. This is a big decision with lots of responsibility, but believe it or not, people really do like you and look up to you. Ultimately you do whatever you think is best for the three of us." Hermione said, stroking her stomach.

Severus turned back to Nickolas, whom seemed to be unfazed at the fact that Hermione basically admitted to him that she was pregnant. He was going to do what was best for himself and his family and give his son the life he always wanted as a child.

"Nickolas I would be honored to take your place as king." Severus responded, causing everyone watching to cheer with joy.

"Only if Hermione will be my queen right here and now." Severus said.

"Severus…"

"Hermione, this is indeed a sad day for many but I think we ought to give everyone here at least one happy memory, plus it is a shame to waste all this preparation for a wedding for nobody to get married. So what do you say Hermione, marry me?" Severus asked with a smile.

"Yes Severus, let's celebrate our victory by getting married. I don't want to waste a minute more not being your wife." Hermione said.

"Hold on a minute, how can we have a wedding? Look at this place, not to mention we don't have a priest." Minerva said.

Minerva was right, the chapel as well as the castle roof was heavily damaged, plus the fact that dead bodies were lying around wasn't exactly appealing either.

"Zippy, Duffy, Meme." Nickolas called after clearing his throat.

Three house elves in fine clothing came forth and bowed to Nickolas gracefully.

"Would you please round up all the bodies and prepare them for a mass funeral service? Nickolas asked.

"Of course sir, tis no problem. Zippy said.

While the elves were transporting the bodies, the rest of the order got to work magically putting the chapel back in place to as it was before and in no time, it looked good as new.

"Well that settles that but we still have no priest." Minerva said.

"Actually I can perform both the wedding and the funeral services." Albus said.

"Your licensed to marry people?" Severus asked amused.

"Hey when you live around 150 years or so you find things to do now come on you kids, let's get you married." Albus said taking his place at the front of the alter and Hermione and Severus standing in front of one another.

"Wait." Nickolas said before the ceremony started.

Nickolas walked over the wall at the very back of the chapel to a large stone brick that was roughed up more than the others were.

"Reveal." He said calmly.

The brick started to shake and rattle until it transformed into a large box. Nickolas opened it to reveal a medieval looking sword, similar to the one of Godric Gryffindor and a crown that was clearly made for a man's head.

"The law states that a man must be deemed royalty before he gets married in order to take the thrown." Nickolas said, standing before Severus.

"Severus I ask you to kneel." Nickolas said.

Severus knelt to the ground and felt the weight of the crown being placed on his head.

"Severus, as king of the wizarding world I hereby transfer all of my power, fame, and money over to you as the new king of the wizarding world. Do you accept?" Nickolas asked, touching both Severus' shoulders with the blade of the sword.

"I do." Severus replied.

"Then let it be known from this day forward that the new king of the wizarding world is none other than Severus Tobias Snape and his devoted queen is Hermione Jane Granger." Nickolas announced to the crowd before returning back to the aurors.

Severus and Hermione took their places once more before the alter with huge smiles on their faces. They knew that their lives were about to get far more interesting than they ever imagined. It seemed so long ago that Hermione had begged him to take her on as an apprentice and that Severus had made a drunken mistake in telling her his feelings.

Looking back over it all he realized that maybe that it wasn't so bad that he did that, yes he still felt like an idiot for it but he thought that maybe if he hadn't said anything to her that they wouldn't be where they were now. If anyone had told him that he was going to marry Hermione Granger and become king of the wizarding world a few years back, he would have asked time what potion they were on and make them take a trip to Saint Mungos.

But as he looked into the eyes of his now wife Hermione Jane Snape he saw everything he ever needed, his life, his family and his future were closer than ever.

The End

AN: Wow, I seriously can't believe it is done and on the first day of the New Year too, I feel like crying. There is an epilogue after this so don't forget to read that. Thank you everyone so much for following this story and its long journey. I know it was totally AU and that it was iffy at times but I'm glad you stuck by with your kinds reviews through and through. I hope to see you all again in my next Hermione/ Severus story coming soon. I love you all.


	17. Epilogue

Epilogue

AN: Here is the epilogue that I promised, and of course, I do not own anything

_The history books for years to come would tell of many great things that happened in the last 100 years but perhaps the two greatest moments in time had to be the fall of Voldemort and the reign of King Severus Snape._

_What the history books won't tell you however is the intimate details of this great man's life and how he had to adjust to being a huge public figure. Once word got around that Nickolas and his mother were sent to Azkaban and that Severus was made king, many were outraged and were convinced that the end of their world was coming because a death eater had taken the crown._

_Only when Albus Dumbledore and Rita Skeeter published their novels pertaining to Snape's life and how he really was a spy for the order all along did most begin to come around and see the man for who he really was. _

_Severus had to work hard to gain the people's trust however. It did help that Hermione Granger was his wife but he was determined to show that he really was the good person that Hermione believed he was. He worked with the ministry often and helped pass many laws that benefited the wizarding world greatly such as the __muggleborn rights act__ in which all notions of prejudice against muggleborns became a serious criminal offence. _

_Truth be told Severus was actually scared to death once he realized how much interaction he would have with people and how much responsibility being a king was. Most of his life he was a very privet man who kept to himself and stayed out of the way, and he was content with this. Now he would have to give speeches, greet the public, and talk to leaders from all over the world. Anytime Severus felt that he was in over his head, Hermione was there for him and gave him all the love and support he needed in order to make it through._

_Yes, Hermione and Severus knew their lives would change drastically after the fall of Voldemort but nearly each moment in their life together was a happy one. Severus son was named Albus Lucius Snape and was his heir to the throne in which he took over when Severus died at 130 years of age and ruled the kingdom just as well as his father. Severus and Hermione years later also had two daughters they named Christine Opal and Gwenevier Rose. All three of their children attended Hogwarts and much to Hermione's dismay, were all put in Slytherin._

_They lived to see their children grow up, marry, and even see their grandchildren grow, overall they spent a total of 85 years in wedded bliss before Severus had died and Hermione followed her love exactly one year later._

_Their friends found happiness as well. Ginny Weasley married Draco Malfoy and gave him a son, Scorpious Abraxis, and a daughter, Violet Jane. Scorpious went on to marry Gwenevier, much to nobody's surprise and Violet married Harry's son with Daphne, James Sirius. _

_Harry as well as the rest of the family was delighted when they found out that his youngest child Lily Luna had fallen madly in love with Severus' son Albus and this love led to her marriage to him in which she took the crown by his side._

_The biggest surprise of all came to them when Ron announced that he now understood why everyone loved a Slytherin and that he was engaged to Pansy Parkinson. Together they had a total of six children and their middle child Hugo married Christine and gave Severus a headache because Ron had an excuse to be around more often. _

_It turned out life became quite good for Severus Snape. Fatherhood suited him surprisingly well; he ruled the kingdom better than any king had in over 100 years and brought many years of peace, and was the best husband Hermione could ever want. It truly was a fairytale ending._


End file.
